Struggle Bug
by Hakuhunter
Summary: People had always told Bugsy that bug types were weak and that he should study a better type, but he had never listened to them before. However, after seven straight losses, he starts to think they were right. Then, when a legendary bug type Pokemon starts to wreak havoc, he's called on to stop it. Will his love for bug types stay true, or will he find that bugs are just too weak?
1. Genesis

**Hello all and welcome to a new story of mine. I'd first like to thank you for checking out my story. There's so many out there, I appreciate that you took the time to check out mine.**

 **I don't have too much to say, and I'm sure that you just want to get to reading, so I won't keep you any longer. I'll have more to say at the bottom. Enjoy.**

* * *

*THUD*

A red flag was thrust through the air accompanied by a whooshing sound.

"Scyther is unable to battle," A booming voice made it's way all across the battlefield. "Quilava is the winner," he continued, "and the match goes to the challenger Chace!"

One of the two boys who was battling, the one on the left side, jumped in the air and gave a shout.

"YES!" he yelled. "I knew we could do it!" His Pokemon, the Quilava, ran over and jumped into his arms, which knocked him over because he was too big. The boy wasn't mad, but laughed instead as the Pokemon started to lick his face in excitement. "Okay, okay, that's enough, Quilava, c-cut it out!" he got out between his chuckling.

The other boy, the one on the right, watched the two with a furled brow. His face drooped and he fell onto his knees dramatically, dropping his bug-catching net in the process.

"Not again," he mumbled to himself. He gripped his green shorts and tried to fight back tears. He couldn't have lost again. It's just not possible. How could he lose this much?

With his head still down and his eyes still closed, the boy took off a Pokeball from his belt and pointed it at the green bug that was face down on the grassy floor in front of him.

"Scyther…return," he said, just making him more depressed as the feeling of defeat sank deeper and deeper into him. A red beam shot out of the Pokeball which engulfed the scyther, and soon it dissolved into red energy and was sucked back into the ball.

The boy put the Pokeball back onto his belt and stayed on the ground a bit more, wallowing in his misery.

Eventually, however, he knew he had to get up. Even if he felt awful, he was still a gym leader, and he had to have on his best attitude towards his challengers.

It took a lot of strength to get back up onto his feet and even more courage to walk across the battlefield to meet the person on the other side.

The other boy had gotten back up after being knocked down and his quilava sat beside him as they waited for what the gym leader would say to him. It took him a bit, but he eventually opened his mouth.

"It…it was a good battle," he uttered, trying his best to keep all of his emotions from bursting out of him.

"Yeah, I guess it was, thanks!" the challenger said, completely oblivious of the leaders internal crisis. "I've got to say though," the first boy continued, "I really thought that you'd be harder to beat, being the 'bug Pokemon expert', and all. I didn't expect to be able to beat you only using my quilava."

He knew that the boy didn't mean it as an insult, but it just added to the pain he already felt. It was like he just kept dumping salt onto his already infected wound.

The gym leader bit his tongue so he wouldn't say anything he'd regret later. He reached down into one of his short pockets and took out a small, red and black pin. With his teeth gritted, he handed it to the boy.

"Here, this is yours."

"Aww, really? Thanks!" the first boy said with enthusiasm.

"That's the hive badge," the leader continued on with his explanation that he gave every challenger.

"Whoa, that's really cool. I've got to go show this to my pa! Come on, Quilava!"

" _Quil-Quilava!"_

And just like that, he was gone from the gym. He ran out before the leader could say anything more or even give him the TM he always gives people who beat him. He wanted to ask him a few more things before he left, like if there was maybe something he could have done better, or what was the key to his strength and how he was able to beat him so easily. But now he wouldn't be able to ask him any of that.

With the challenger gone, however, the leader now had time to himself. Time to think…

Time to cry…

The boy went back over to his net and casually picked it up. He examined it for a second before walking over a spectator bench. He propped up his net on a nearby tree and sat down.

He looked around at his gym, which may look more like a greenhouse to some people. But with the whole gym being made up of grass and trees, it made it easier to raise bug type Pokemon. The sunlight that was let through the transparent roof also allowed for the plants to grow and the Pokemon to get their sunlight. The boy liked it, as it made him feel like he was always outdoors.

The feeling quickly went away as he remembered his loss. The boy let out a long sigh before taking out another pin from the same pocket that he had giving to the challenger. He examined it closely. It was designed to look like the back of a ladybug, or, in terms of Pokemon, a ledyba or ledian. While he didn't use either of those Pokemon at this gym, he still thought the design was nice; he had come up with it himself.

He twisted it around in his fingers while he went over the battle in his mind.

Seven.

He had lost seven times in a row now, three of those times the challenger didn't use more than one Pokemon. It was what really competitive people called, a 'sweep'. A complete wipe of his team.

The boy thought some more about the battle. Was there something else he could have done differently? Was, perhaps, he missing something that everyone else had? Is that why he just hadn't been winning?

"Hey, Bugsy," a voice snapped him out of his deep thoughts. He looked up and saw his referee. He was dressed the same as all Johto Pokemon League referees. In his hands were two, small flags. One green, one red. He placed them down on another one of the benches before continuing his sentence. "I was thinking about going out to eat. Do you want me to get you something?" he asked

The boy, Bugsy, turned his head and looked over at the clock that was placed high above the battlefield so it would be hit by any attacks. It read 1:38, (or 1:37, Bugsy was never the best at reading analog clocks,) which was a little bit after lunch time.

"No," Bugsy replied with a shake of his head. "I'm good."

The judge's eyebrows raised up a bit.

"Really? You didn't eat breakfast. You sure you don't want anything?"

"Yeah, I'm not hungry," Bugsy replied. He wasn't lying either. He really didn't feel any hunger.

The judge nodded slightly to show he understood. "Alright."

And like that, the judge left through the doors and was gone, leaving Bugsy alone.

Well, he wasn't truly alone.

Right after the judge left, one of Bugsy's Pokeball opened on its own with a flash of light. The Pokemon came out and sat the bench right next to Bugsy, on his left.

Bugsy was still examining the badge in his hand, twisting it around. He didn't need look which Pokemon had come out. That he already knew.

"How are you fairing, Scythe?" he asked without looking up from his fixation.

" _Scy-ther,_ " was her reply back, which Bugsy took to mean "Alright" or maybe "Fine."

"Good," Bugsy said with a smile. He ran a hand through his medium-length, light purple hair. His smile quickly disappeared and his eyes made their way to the ground. "I-" Bugsy started, but was stopped by a sniffle. His eyes closed before he continued. "I'm sorry, Scythe. I'm sorry that I lost again."

A small tear escaped his eye. Bugsy didn't even try to wipe it off, because he knew more of them were on their way.  
"I know that you always do your best for me, Scythe," he continued as another tear fell out. "All my Pokemon do. I'm just so sorry that I…can't win for you."

Bugsy couldn't help but cry some more. No one else was around, so it didn't matter. No one else would see him. Scyther patently waited as she listened to her master.

"I'm just wish I could be a better trainer so that I could stop letting all of my Pokemon down. What kind of Gym Leader am I if I fail my Pokemon over and over again?"

Bugsy felt something lay on his leg. He opened up his eyes and looked at down. It was Scyther's arm resting on him. He moved his head up to look at his Pokemon.

She was sitting right next to Bugsy, with her wings tucked in and her other arm over a spot of her stomach that was hit by a hard Flamewheel in the last battle. Her large, green legs were tucked under the bench, letting them have a rest after tiring them out.

Scyther was staring directly at him, her blue eyes sparkling from the sunlight let in by the roof of the gym. Her eyes were filled many different emotions. Compassion, sadness, comfortness, just to name a few. Bugsy and his Scyther stared at each other for a few seconds, neither of them saying anything. It was Scyther who broke the silence.

" _Scyther-Scy,"_ she said to him softly. Bugsy didn't have a clear idea of what she had said to him, but he believed it to be along the lines of, "It's alright," or "Don't worry about it."

No matter what she had said, though, the sentiment behind it was clear. Even after all these losses, Scyther wasn't mad at him. She still believed in her trainer.

Bugsy turned back away from his Pokemon and wiped away the tears that had fallen down his face. He gave himself a few deep breaths before nodding a few times to himself.

"Right…" he trailed off. "I'll…I'll think about it."

Just then, Bugsy remembered something very important that he needed to do. He hoisted himself off of the bench and extended an arm out to his green friend.

"Come on, let's go get the others healed."

Scyther bore a smile herself as she took her free arm and had Bugsy help her up, avoiding the blade, of course.

And with that, Bugsy and Scyther were gone from the gym, leaving it completely empty of any inhabitants.

* * *

Trainer and Pokemon, the two of them headed down the small streets of Azalea town. This town wasn't known for its population; that kind of city would be Goldenrod. No, in fact, Azalea town wasn't known for much, actually. Sure, Kurt, the Pokeball master, lived here, and they had the slowpoke well a little ways from the town, but not much else, if Bugsy was going to be honest.

But he didn't mind. He liked the idea of living in a small, not often visited town. It had a quaint feel to it, and Bugsy liked it.

As they walked down the street, Bugsy observed all of the gazes of the people from the town. As the Azalea town gym leader, most people, if not all, knew him. He traveled out of his gym often, so it wasn't an uncommon sight to see him strolling about, but Bugsy still caught people's gaze on him. Perhaps it was just because he was such an important figure. That must be it.

To get his mind off of all that, Bugsy turned to the Pokemon by his side.

"Hey, Scythe, you sure you're doing alright?" he asked his Pokemon. "That looks like a bad burn you've got." The bug didn't verbally respond, but simply nodded. She was still holding it, so it must still hurt. "Are you sure you don't want to go back in your Pokeball? You could rest up there." Bugsy knew what her answer would be, but still thought he should ask anyway.

Indeed, as Bugsy predicted, Scyther shook her head. She wanted to be out with Bugsy. He didn't even try to argue. He knew there was no point with her.

"Alright, if you say so. You know I only ask because I'm concerned for you," Bugsy said honesty. Scyther knew this well, and gave another nod. This made Bugsy slightly smile. "We'll see what we can do for that burn. Maybe someone in the Pokecenter has a rawst berry. How would you like that.

" _Scythe,_ " the bug type replied simple, which Bugsy took as an "Okay." Scyther wasn't a very expressive Pokemon. She only really got that way when Bugsy was feeling sad. All other times she was a very strong and to-the-point kind of girl.

The two walked only a little bit more before the large, red roof appeared in their sight. Walking up to it, the doors to the center slid open by themselves. Bugsy entered the automatic doors first, as Scyther insisted, and she followed behind him.

As the two doors closed behind them, literally all ten eyes in the center were on him. This was different than the streets, however, because he knew most of the people here. Three trainers about Bugsy's age were sitting in the far left corner table, two girls and a guy. The guy had on some sport's attire, representing his favorite team. What the team was, Bugsy didn't know, as he never had kept up that much with sports, but it clothing was the usual. Shorts, a tank top, flip-flops, and a sun-visor.

The guy was shifting through some cards- probably sports related- before Bugsy entered while the girl next to him watched him. She had on some standard causal wear: Jeans, t-shirt, sneakers, glasses, also nothing special.

Finally, the second girl who sat on the opposite end table wore a vibrant red dress with heels to match it. She was clutching a large, green book in her hand while looking out into space through the Pokecenter's large window. While Bugsy recognized the first two people, this other girl was a new face to him.

Another kid was sitting by himself in the opposite corner. He was wearing almost identical gear to the first girl, although he also had a scarf to go with it. Bugsy questioned why someone would need to wear a scarf in the middle of spring, although he passed it off as some sort of fashion trend. Just like sports, fashion was something Bugsy was not to keen in keeping up with. Bugsy had seen this kid a few times before, but didn't know him by name.

Nurse Joy, who was behind her desk on her computer looked like every other nurse in every other Pokecenter around the world. She had her pink hair and her white nurse outfit that people had come to expect.

For the first few seconds after Bugsy entered, the whole center was quiet. No one spoke a word. Then, like an explosion, the two kids that Bugsy knew from the trio bursted out of their seats and ran over to him, saying, "Hey, look, it's Bugsy!," and "Whoa, hey Bugsy, nice to see you!"

"Hey guys! How's it going?" he asked as they ran up, a wide smile on his face.

"Today's going really well," the boy, Joseph, replied. "You know why? I was able to catch an Absol over in the Ilex forest today."  
Bugsy was happy for his friend but also a bit surprised. Both were evident in his voice.

"I didn't think you could find Absol in the forest."

"Yeah, well, me neither. That's why I was so happy to catch one."

"Hey, Bugsy," the girl, Josephine, broke into the conversation. "How did your gym battle go, huh? Did you win? Did you win?"

Immediately, the memories of the gym battle came back for Bugsy, and all the feeling did too.

"I…I lost again," Bugsy spat out his cheerful attitude gone as fast as it had come. The faces of both the siblings turned grim along with Bugsy's

"Aww, that's too bad," Joseph said remorsefully. "I was sure that you would be able to beat this challenger."

"Hey, cheer up Bugsy," Josephine spoke with an uplifting tone. "I bet you'll beat the next one."

"Yeah, well…" Bugsy turn away from the people in front of him and looked outside the large window of the Pokecenter, to the sky beyond. "That's what you've been saying for the last 6 battles, and it still hasn't come true. I don't know why I keep losing, only that I am. I don't really know what to do at this point."

The three stood in silence, letting what Bugsy had said sink in.

After some time, Bugsy pushed past to two and walked up to the nurse while Scyther followed behind.

"Hey, Nurse Joy, can you take care of these two Pokemon for a bit and make sure they're feeling alright?" Bugsy asked as he took off the two Pokeballs that he used in the battle from his belt.

"Of course, I'll be happy to heal them for you," she responded with her affectionate voice that Bugsy had come so accustomed to. He handed the Pokemon over to her, which she then put on a medical tray. She got up and was about to head into the back room to give them a check up until she noticed Bugsy's other Pokemon.

"Scyther, that's some burn you've got. Are you sure you don't want me to treat that?"  
Scyther gave a weak shake of her head, to which Bugsy just shrugged.

"You know her, Nurse Joy. She wouldn't take the Pokecenter's help if her life depended on it."

"And that's exactly what makes me worried." Nurse Joy lectured like a mother. "Bugsy, as Scyther's trainer, don't you think you should take some action to get her healed, even if she doesn't want it?"

Bugsy let out a small chuckle. "You say that like I haven't tried before. Last time I made her get healed, she nearly destroyed the whole building by slashing up the place. She just has her own sense of pride. Isn't that right, Scythe?" Bugsy asked while lightly nudging his Pokemon with his elbow.

" _Scy-ther_ " she replied with a slight smile, happy that her trainer was sticking up for her.

"Alright, but at least make sure that burn gets healed, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll do that" Bugsy assured her. After that, Nurse Joy turned back to the door to the back room as it automatically opened, and walked into it, the door closing behind her.

"Hey, Bugsy," Jonathan spoke up from behind him. "I've got a rawst berry in my bag if you want it."  
"Sure," Bugsy said while wheeling around. "I'm sure Scyther would like it too." Scyther gave a small nod to show that she, indeed, would like it too.

Jonathan ran over to his backpack that was sitting next to his chair and fished out of it a small cooler. He opened it up and scoped up a small and blue berry with green leaves. "Here, catch," he said as he tossed the berry over to Scyther. Without moving from her spot, she opened over her mouth and caught it with her teeth, crunching down the second it touched her mouth. She started to chew it as Joseph put the cooler back into his backpack and walked back over.

"That should make your burn better after a little bit of rest," Bugsy commented. Although he was aware that scyther already knew this, he still felt like it needed repeating. "Why don't you go sit over there," Bugsy motioned to Scyther's favorite spot on the windowsill. "I'll be over there in a second."

Scyther had just finished up her berry. After she swallowed, she nodded and walked casually over to the windowsill and slowly sat down on it.

"So, Bugsy," Josephine turned Bugsy's thoughts away from Scyther and back to the people in front of him, "We have someone we want you to meet."

Josephine directed Bugsy over to the table they were just sitting at. The girl from earlier lowered her head to avoid eye contact with any of them.

"This is our cousin," Josephine prefaced. "Bugsy, meet Hillary. Hillary, Bugsy."

"Nice to meet you," Bugsy greeted with his arm outstretched. Hillary briefly glanced up at the hand, but her eyes quickly darted back to the ground. Bugsy retracted his arm when he saw that he wasn't getting a handshake.

"Don't mind her," Jospeh assured Bugsy while sitting down. "She's really shy to everyone, even to us sometimes."

"See, I wanted to introduce you to her because she's a big fan of your book," Josephine explained as she also sat down next to her brother. Bugsy followed suit and took a seat by Josephine, not wanting to get too close to the shy Hillary.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Bugsy said with a smile, happy to distract himself from his gym battle defeat. He motioned to the book that Hillary was clutching with her hands. "I'd love to hear what you're favorite part of the book is."  
Hillary sat motionless, her vivid dress shining in the sunshine. Eventually, she build up the courage to give out a shrug.

"She's not going to ask, so I'll do it for her," Joseph interjected. "But Hillary told me that she would really like your autograph on that book."  
Bugsy turned back to the timid girl. He didn't ever expect someone would want his autograph. He bore the gentlest smile he could. "Oh, uh, sure, I can do that," he said, a little surprised. He slowly extending his arm, not all the way, but just a little bit. He didn't want to scare such a shy girl as her.

Again, Hillary fell silent. The only movement came from her breathing as the book that was on her chest rose and fell. After quite a bit of time, Hillary finally unlatched the book from her hands and passed it onto Bugsy. He took it slowly and brought it closer to him. Once it was in his possession, he flipped it over to examine the cover.

"THE TRUTH ABOUT BUGS," it read in large letters, and then under it, in much smaller letters, "A trainer's guide to bugs and how to use them." Finally, at the very bottom, it read. "Written by Bugsy."

Flipping it over to the first page, Bugsy took out a pen from his shirt pocket and wrote down his signature in the top left corner. After he was done, he closed the book and handed it back to Hillary, who bashfully took it back. The second the book was in her hands she grabbed it tight and held it close to her once again.

At about that time, Joseph raised up his arm and took a look at his watch. He stretched his arms out above his head before bringing them back and saying "Well, the big game will be on soon, and I don't want to miss it." He hoisted himself out of his chair before saying goodbye to Bugsy and walked out of the Pokecenter. Josephine giggled at this.

"I should probably go too to make sure he doesn't wreck the place, like he usually does. See you later, Bugsy."

"Yeah, see you."  
Josephine too raised herself up from her chair and ran out of the Pokecenter, hoping to catch up to her brother.

After that, the Pokecenter was quiet again. Because the other two left, only Bugsy and Hillary were at the table now. This was now getting awkward, so Bugsy got up out of his chair and started to go over to Scyther to see if she was doing alright. Before he was able to take any steps, Bugsy heard a noise come from the girl behind him. He turned back around to see her staring right at him. When she met Bugsy's gaze, however, her eyes immediately went back down to the floor.

Bugsy was a bit confused by this. "Did you...want to say something to me?" he asked. The girl was once again silent, so Bugsy thought it was nothing. He was about to go away for a second time before he heard Hillary say something again.

"Did…" was all she said. Bugsy turned back around and looked at her again, and this time she didn't look away. "Did…" she continued, "did you really get bullied as a kid because you liked bug types?"

Bugsy found this question somewhat odd, although he did talk about himself and his childhood in the first part of the book. Taking the steps back, Bugsy sat down at the table again, this time directly across from Hillary.  
"Yeah, I did…" Bugsy replied quietly, but loud enough that she could hear him on the other end of the table.

"That's…awful," Hillary got out. "I've always thought you should use the Pokemon that you want to, regardless of who they are. Why did they hate bugs so much?"

Bugsy was caught off guard by how much Hillary was talking now, although he answered the question all the same.

"I don't know. Everyone thought that bugs were weak and useless in battles when I was younger." This time, it was Bugsy's turn to look away from Hillary. "Maybe they weren't far off," he uttered when he thought about how many times he had lost.

Hillary's face turned downcast along with Bugsy's. Both of them didn't say anything, leaving the Pokecenter eerily quiet again.

"But, that's my problem, not yours," Bugsy said as he choked up a smile. After a long sigh, he got out of his chair. "I need to go check on Scyther. I'll see you later," he said as a general goodbye. Hillary stared at Bugsy for a little bit longer as he walked away before her eyes went to their usual place on the ground.

"Hey, Scythe, how's that burn?" he asked once he was over to Scyther. She nodded to show that she was fine. Her arms were crossed and off her burned area, so he assumed that she was at least doing okay.

With Scyther checked on, Bugsy decided that he should stop procrastinating and get to what was bothering him. He needed time to think of why he wasn't winning. He sat down in a chair near Scyther and took out some earbuds and his Pokegear, both of which were stashed in his other Pocket that wasn't carrying his badges. Listening to the radio always helped him him focus his thoughts. He put the earbuds in turned the radio to on. Instantly, music flooded Bugsy's ears. He closed his eyes and listened to the sweet tunes for a second before delving into the problem at hand.

Why did he keep losing at gym battles, he thought to himself. Was it a flaw in his strategy that he was oblivious to? Maybe it was the simple fact that he needed to train more. Or perhaps…

Bugsy slowly moved his head over to his left to see his Scyther still with her arms crossed and her head down. Once she noticed that her trainer was watching at her, her head perked up and she looked back at Bugsy.

Perhaps he wasn't the reason he was losing…but it was because of his Pokemon

Bugsy hated this idea and immediately condemned himself for thinking it, but the thought just kept coming back to him. Everyone had always told him the bugs were weak and that he was better off studying something more worthwhile. He had always ignored them, especially when he was younger, because he just beat out everyone who talked bad about him. But now that he really had the time to think about it…maybe they were right.

Bugsy still loved bug types; that didn't change, had never changed, and will never change. But maybe bug types just weren't meant for the competitive scene. It was possible that bug types were just meant for casual battlers and people who did Pokemon battling as a hobbie. Maybe, by forcing his bugs to battle in really competitive ways, he was really just putting them up against odds that they couldn't win. Not because they were weak or petty, but because everyone else was so much better.

The music from his earbuds suddenly stopped and a colorful ringtone replaced it. Bugsy took out his earbuds out of his ears and unplugged them from his Pokegear. He clicked the bright green 'accept call' button on his Pokegear and put it up next to his ear.

"Hello, this is Bugsy," he answered.

"Heeeeeeeyyyyyyy Bugsy!" A loud and overdrawn female voice came from across the Pokegear. This startled Bugsy so much that he almost dropped his Pokegear and had to juggle it for a second to get it back in his grip. Once he had it again, Bugsy put it back up to his ear.

"Oh, hey, Whitney," he replied much less enthusiastically.  
"Hey there Bugs-Bugs, how's it going?"

Bugsy silently wondered why Whitney would be calling at a time like this, but he kept that to himself.

"I'm doing…fine," Bugsy replied simply.

"Well that's good!" Whitney exclaimed, unaware of what Bugsy was truly feeling. "So I have a question for you."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Where are you right now?"

Bugsy didn't answer for a second, as confused by this weird question as he was.

"Uh…I'm in the Pokecenter, why?"

"Oh okay." Whitney said simply. She was silent after that, so Bugsy had to follow up with a question of his own.

"Um…why did you ask me that?"

"Oh, well, you weren't at your gym, so I didn't know where you could be."

"Wait, my gym? Whitney, are you here in Azalea Town?"

Bugsy hered Whitney giggle from across the line. "Of course I am! How else would I be able to be at your gym."

"Okay, well what are you _doing_ in Azalea town?"

"Oh, I decided to take a break from the Goldenrod gym for a bit. And what better way to do that than hang out with some friends. So I'll be waiting for you in the park, okay? Don't be late, k?"

"Hey, Whitney, wa-"

*click*

Bugsy took his Pokegear away from his ear when Whitney hung up. He gave a slight shake of his head. Once Whitney had her mind to something, no one could change it. He put his Pokegear back in one of his pockets and got up out of his seat. He would continue to think about his losses another time. Maybe spending time with friends was just the thing he needed to do.

"Alright, Scyther, I'm going to the park to meet up with Whitney. How about you take a break in your ball?"

Scyther looked up at her trainer and stared at him for a bit. It wasn't a menacing glance, but nor was it a compassionate one. It was simply just a look.

Bugsy cracked a small smile. "Please?"

Scyther still didn't answer. Eventually she gave a small nod along with a " _Scy"_. Bugsy knew that this was the most affirmation he was ever going to get out of Scyther, so he unhooked her Pokeball from his waist and pointed it at her. He clicked it open and red beam shot out, enveloping Scyther. She was then sucked into the Pokeball, and it closed with another click.

Bugsy put the ball back on his belt and walked out of the Pokecenter, the doors closing behind him with a soft thump.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can.**


	2. Bugged Out

**Hello and welcome to chapter 2. Sorry for the wait, but I totally meant to get this up a lot earlier. But I had a lot of things to do in June, and then I got addicted SAO, so a lot of my free time went into watching that...*Sigh* Anyways, the chapter is here now, and that's all that matters. I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

The first things that Bugsy heard as he walked the steps entering the park were the birds. A tree near the entrance housed a few pidgey, each of which was chirping out their own melodious sonnet into the humid spring afternoon. Bugsy listened to the tunes as he strode into Azalea's town park. He looked up into the tree that contained the birds. A mother and her babies were in a nest lodged in one of the upper branches of the tree. They continued to sing, ignoring Bugsy below.

The flying type was actually pretty high on the list of Bugsy's favorite types. The way that they sang so harmoniously, the way that they flew so majestically, and the way that they fought so gracefully; it all made Bugsy's heart flutter. He had always wanted to ride on the back of one but never had the opportunity. He had to admit that he was jealous when he saw Falkner riding on the back of his birds high above in the sky.

Bugsy huffed a sigh before continuing on further into the park.

Scyther, of course, technically had flying type properties, and so was considered a flying type, but Bugsy was much too heavy for her to carry him far distances. His Butterfree was the same way, she didn't have the strength either. He also had a pinsir, and when apinsir go through mega evolution, it would also start to fly. Bugsy thought about how cool it would be to fly on the back of a Mega-Pinsir, but he knew it wouldn't happen. Bugsy didn't have any of the things he needed for mega evolution, not including the fact that mega evolution was way out of his league, being the bug catcher that he was.

Bugsy put these thoughts behind him as he made it to the center of the park. A single, large tree was directly in the middle of the whole park, and a few benches were scattered around it. Whitney, however, was on none of them.

 _She must not be here yet_ , Bugsy thought to himself. This wasn't the first time that Whitney had told Bugsy to meet him somewhere and then showed up after him, but he still wished she would be on time.

Even though there were many benches, Bugsy decided he would sit down right next to the tree. He had always preferred to be close to nature. The tree just felt so much more inviting than any of the human-made benches.

Bugsy sat down and felt the rough bark on his back and the mushy soil underneath him. He took a few seconds to make himself comfortable before letting his back rest on the tree and relaxing.

Bugsy closed his eyes and took a deep breath of nature's air. After exhaling, Bugsy looked up at the sky and watched the clouds that passed by.

Before, Bugsy had thought that Azalea town had nothing special to it. But now, sitting here, next to this tree, in the middle of this park, Bugsy now knew what made this town special. There was no kind of pollution here. Air pollution wasn't a thing in Azalea, so you could always see the clouds at any time of the day. Noise pollution was also something that all but didn't exist. On good days, like today, you could sit quietly in the park and hear only the sounds that nature.

Bugsy really did envy bug type because of this. Most of them lived in forests and plains undisturbed by human hands. This kind of lifestyle is what bugs could enjoy every single day.

It was at this point that Bugsy realised that he was glad Whitney was late. If she had been here, then Bugsy wouldn't have been able to sit here and enjoy this moment, this moment of natural bliss.

Bugsy's thoughts were interrupted when a small, flying insect passed through his gaze. His eyes followed it as it fluttered about a bit.

Bugsy smiled at this butterfly that had decided to come over to him. He raised his arm and stuck out one finger for it to land on.

Indeed, as Bugsy wanted, the bug slowly meandered its flying way over to the large finger and landed upon it as fluidly as it flew. This caused Bugsy's smile to increase even more.

"Hey there, little guy," Bugsy spoke out loud to the small butterfly. "How's it going?"

The butterfly, of course, didn't respond verbally, but one of its antennae twitched, which Bugsy took as an affirmative response.

"Heh, that's good to hear." Bugsy kept up his one sided conversation. "You know, I-"

"Hey, Bugsy! There you are!" a very loud voice shouted out from Bugsy's left. He was so started by this that he jerked the butterfly off of him, who flew up and away from Bugsy, continuing on with it's normal life. Bugsy somberly watched it fly away, wishing it could have stayed just a bit longer.

Bugsy turned to his left, knowing full well whose voice interrupted his conversation was.

"Whitney, there you are," Bugsy said as he got up off the ground, slightly upset that she had intruded on his talk with the butterfly. "How come you weren't already here when I got here? You were the one who told me to come here after all."

The girl in front of Bugsy was a few years older than him. A over-exaggerated smile was on her face while her hands were carrying a small box of something or other. Over her shoulders was a small, pink and purple backpack

"Heya, Bugs-Bugs," Whitney greeted with a tilt of her head and a blink of her eyes. "Long time no see!"

"Yeah, it's been…a few months, I think," Bugsy replied, ignoring that fact that Whitney had just glossed over his previous question.

"Hey, let's talk on one of these benches, my legs are killing me," Whitney proposed. She didn't wait for Bugsy's response as she made her way over to one of the park benches. She slung her backpack onto the ground before sitting down herself.

"How did a softball player like yourself tire you legs out? Did you run a lap around Azalea?" Bugsy joked as he came over and sat next to the pink haired girl.

"Pretty much," Whitney said with a small laugh. "I'm so used to bustling streets of Goldenrod, that a small town like Azalea confused me so much. It took me forever to find what I was looking for."

Bugsy raised an eye at this.

"What were you looking for?"

"This!" Whitney announced decisively as she took the box from her hands and placed it on her lap. With the cover now upwards, Bugsy saw that it was, in fact, a small box of chocolates. "This was the reason I was late," Whitney continued. "I wanted to get something sweet to eat, but I didn't know where I could get any."

"You could have just asked me on the Pokegear," Bugsy said as Whitney took off the cover of the box. "I could have told you where to go."

"True…" Whitney put simply. She took out one of the chocolates and held it up. "But I didn't think of that when I called you up," she finished. She plopped the sweet right into her mouth and chewed it up with a satisfying moan.

"These chocolates are so good," she iterated while her mouth was still full. She swallowed and then followed that up with, "We don't have anything this good back in Goldenrod."

Bugsy stayed silent as Whitney dined on her delicious desserts. He really wanted to eat one of the hazel sweets, especially because his hunger was now catching up to him. But the gentleman inside of him knew that it would be rude if he asked for one, so he didn't say anything.

Whitney, however, knew exactly what Bugsy was thinking. She held out the box towards him.

"Go ahead," she affirmed with a nod.

Gratefully, Bugsy took one and ate it himself. After he swallowed he also added, "Yeah, I've always loved the candy they make here. Something about it you don't find anywhere else."

"I should come and visit more often if it means I get more of this chocolate," Whitney said with a smile before taking and eating another one. After this, she put the lid back on. "I would love to keep eating these, but I think I need to stop." She took the box and slid it under the bench. "I'll save it for later."  
Whitney reoriented herself and turned towards the boy sitting next to her. "So, Bugs-Bugs, what have you been up to lately?"

"Oh, not much," Bugsy replied simply. "Nothing different from the usual."

"Yeah, same here," Whitney agreed. "However something interesting did happen at the gym. I was visited by a Pokemon League inspector."

"A Pokemon League inspector?" Bugsy repeated.

"Yeah. They're people who go around to all the gyms and challenge 'em under the disguise of a regular Pokemon trainer. You know, to make sure they are strong enough to be a gym leader."

"Was he hard?"

"A bit, yeah, but I won in the end. You can guess my surprise when he revealed himself. But, since I beat him, he gave me the all clear, so I'm good to be a gym leader for a while now."

"I've never had one of them at my gym," Bugsy said, slightly glad by that fact.

"Oh, you will, eventually." Whitney said, snatching up the gladness that he had. "Speaking of which, how's the gym been?"

As Whitney brought up this question, the memory of his previous battles came back to him. He apparently didn't hid it very well because Whitney could tell something was us.

"Oh? What's wrong Bugsy?" Whitney asked, concerned by the depressed look of Bugsy's face.

"Well, it's just that…" Bugsy started, but stopped as he tried to word what he wanted to say. "Whitney, what do you do to cheer yourself up after a loss?"

Whitney's face brightened up at this.

"Oh, is that all? Well, I don't lose that often, but in the rare case that I do, I find that you need to let those sad emotions out somehow. After a good cry, I always feel a lot better."

This didn't help Bugsy even in the slightest. Not only had crying not done him much good, but hearing that Whitney rarely lost just made all of his defeats sting even more. Whitney must have noticed this, as she leaned in closer to her friend.

"Listen, Bugsy. I know something that will be sure to cheer you up," Whitney said, completely unaware of how serious Bugsy's losing streak was.

Whitney took a Pokeball out of a small pocket on the outside of her backpack and opened it. A white light flash, and a small Pokemon appeared onto Whitney's lap.

The Pokemon's large, brown ears gave a twitch as it took in the surroundings. It's round, brown eyes came into contact with Bugsy's, and a large smile came over it's face.

" _Eevee!_ " it called out in the most adorable manner possible. Bugsy could help but smile along with it. In one, swift motion, Whitney scooped up the small furball in her arms and hugged it close to her chest.

"Isn't she the cutest thing ever!?" Whitney cried out as she started to snuggle with her neck fur, laughing as she did it. The eevee very much enjoyed this and let out another, " _Eevee!_ " to show her pleasure. "I just caught her a few days ago a little bit outside of Goldenrod. Well, what do you think? She _is_ adorable, right?"

At this, Bugsy let out a sigh and got up off of the bench. Whitney stopped her giggling and looked back up at her friend.

"Bugsy?"

Bugsy himself was silent for a few seconds before he spoke.

"I've lost seven time in a row, Whitney," he said without facing her.

Finally, the girl understood that this wasn't a simple sadness caused by a single loss. Her happy face and giddy attitude immediately dropped at this, and so did her Pokemon's.

"But…I've been thinking, and I think I may know why I've been losing."

Both Bugsy and Whitney were silent for a few seconds. The park was so silent that you could hear the pidgey from the entrance of the park cheerping out their music.

"I think…" Bugsy started while turning around, "...It might be that I'm using the wrong type of Pokemon."

"Wha-! Bugsy!" Whitney exclaimed as she heard something she thought she would never hear coming from Bugsy.

"People always told me that bug types are weak," he continued, unfazed, "and that I should study a better type…I'm starting to think they were right."

"But, Bugsy!" Whitney shot up to her feet with her eevee still in her arms. "What about your research? You've been studying bugs all your life, and you've made so many discoveries about them. You've also written a book about them." Whitney ran around Bugsy to his front. "Heck, you've even discovered a bug type move all by yourself-Fury Cutter, right? Not even Clair has done something like that! Are you just going to give that all up?"

Bugsy breathed in and out before answering.

"I'm not giving up on anything, Whitney," he replied while walking past her and towards the tree. "Just…moving on. Moving forward."

As Bugsy arrived at the oak tree, he spotted a small caterpie climbing down the brown bark. He stuck out his arm next to the tree. The caterpie stared at it for a few solid seconds, but then decided it was safe enough and crawled into Bugsy's hand. He brought the bug closer to him and stared at it for a few seconds with a child-like smile.

"I still love bug types," Bugsy said while he started to scratch the caterpie's neck, which it enjoyed very much. "That's something that will never change, no matter what. I'll always cherish the times I spent with bug-types, and all my research on them." Bugsy's smile evaporated in the wind. "But love and cherishment does very little on a competitive level. Maybe…" Bugsy stopped as he looked deep into the caterpie's eyes, who was now also looking up at him. "Maybe bugs were just never meant for this kind of battling. If I truly want to get better, and I really want to be a better Pokemon trainer," Bugsy knelt down and set the caterpie in his hands on the the ground before standing back up. "Then I should start to use Pokemon that _were_ meant for competitive battles. For gym battles."

The caterpie looked up at Bugsy with longing eyes. It took all of his strength to break contact with the little bug and turn around.

While Bugsy was monologuing, Whitney had also made her way over to the tree, eevee in tow.

"Are you really sure?" Whitney asked.

"I…really don't know." Bugsy said honestly. "I'm just spitting out ideas right now." He broke eye contact and looked pasty Whitney, towards the white, fluffy clouds, far in the distance. "Just…thinking."

Whitney was silent for a seconds as she processed all of what Bugsy has said. The thing that came out of her mouth next surprised Bugsy.

"Have you told your Pokemon yet?"

Bugsy hadn't even thought of telling his Pokemon the fact that he was thinking of training a new type. It was a pretty important decision, and Whitney was right.

"No, I haven't yet," Bugsy admitted. "I really have only been thinking about this recently."

Bugsy's heart dropped as he came to the realization of something. His hand moved to his belt and grabbed the single and only Pokemon that was clipped to it. WIth both hands, he brought it close to his face and stared deep into the red and white coloring.

"But…I guess Scyther knows now."

Whiney nodded at this. Scyther had been in her Pokeball with Bugsy, and therefor had heard all of what Bugsy had just said.

"I'm sorry Scythe," The bug catcher said as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Please don't take anything I said personally."

"You know what?" Whitney spoke, her usual energetic personality suddenly back. "I know a way that can cheer you up."

Bugsy looked up from his Pokeball. "Hm?"

"Let's have a battle!" Whitney declared. "That will be a good way to both test your strength and help you get to an answer. What do you say?"

Bugsy really didn't know about this. If what he thought was correct, then a battle would do nothing but make him even sadder, especially considering how good of a trainer Whitney was.

"I dunno. I'm not sure Scyther is ready fo-"

Suddenly, the Pokeball in Bugsy's hand burst open, which caused Bugsy himself to recoil back and almost fall over. He ran into a bench and caught himself from tumbling down. After he had regained his composer, Bugsy looked up at the Pokemon that had just released herself.

Scyther had her blade-arms up, and her wings outstretched, ready to do battle. She turned around and stared at Bugsy. They weren't menacing eyes, nor eyes of hate. No, the eyes were those of determination. Maybe it was because of what Bugsy had just said, and she wanted to prove him wrong, or maybe it was just Scyther being her normal, prideful self, never wanting to back down from a battle. Whatever the reason, her intent was clear.

She wanted to fight.

Once Bugsy registered this, he pushed himself off the bench and walked over to his bug-type friend.

"You sure you're up to a battle?" He asked. "Aren't you still tired from our gym battle earlier.

Scyther shook her head.

" _Scyther!"_ she said decisively.

Bugsy knew at this point that Scyther's mind could not be changed. He really did think that she should rest more, but her burn was healed, and she looked to be fine. Bugsy shrugged.

"Alright…if you think you're ready."

"Great!" Whitney shouted. She ran over to one of the open park pathways to get ready to battle.

"Alright, Eevee, let's do this right!" She exclaimed, while throwing her arms up in the air, launching the normal type into the air. The Pokemon landed right on her feet and almost immediately got into a battle stance.

" _Eevee!_ " she declared.

Bugsy rushed over to the other side of the path to do the same. Scyther flew most of the short distance over. She landed a meter in front of Bugsy and got back into the stance she was in earlier.

Now that both Pokemon were ready, it was time to start.

"The first move is yours," Bugsy said with a nod and arms crossed.

"Don't mind if I do," Whitney replied with a smile. Right afterwards, she thrusted her arm forward and with a point, shouted, "Eevee, start out with a Tackle!"

Eevee kicked with her back feet to get some starting momentum and started to sprint towards the bug on the other side of the battlefield.

"Scyther, Quick Attack!" Bugsy ordered a counter. Scyther jumped up into the air with her wings and shot away from Bugsy, creating a burst of air that came back to Bugsy and lightly ruffled up his hair. Before the eevee could even react, Scyther outstretched her left arm and slashed right through Eevee's side before flying past her and coming to a stop.

The attack threw Eevee off balance and caused her to slam into the ground with her initial speed.

"Ah! Eevee," Whitney cried out in surprise. "Quickly, get back up and use another Tackle!"

The small brown furball, wanting to do her best for her trainer, hopped back up to her feet and charged back at Scyther, this time going in a zigzag pattern to disorient her.

Bugsy knew that Whitney was expecting another Quick Attack from him, so he would try something else.

"Scyther, Aerial Ace!"

Scyther extended her wings again and got ready to perform her attack.

"Now, Eevee, Quick Attack!" Whiney changed her order, full of enthusiasm. Eevee changed her attack and rushed straight for Scyther. Bugsy was only able to get the 'D' in "Dodge!" out of his mouth before the attack hit Scyther right in the stomach. A small grunt escaped Scyther's mouth as the force from the attack made her land on the ground and take a few steps back.

Whitney knew that Bugsy was expecting her to predict a Quick Attack and therefore had countered exactly against it. Although, this was a fellow gym leader Bugsy was facing, so he should have expected a prediction like that.

"Scyther, try a Fury Cutter!" Bugsy shouted, wanting to turn the battle back his way. Scyther shook off the last attack, took her left scythe, and slashed it at the eevee horizontally. The normal type ducked down low and let the attack fly over her. Scyther followed up with her other arm for another attack, this time vertically. Eevee used her forelegs to push herself back out of the range of the attack and and dodged it once again.

But Scyther wasn't going to give up that easily. Again and again, she thrusted her blades towards the small Pokemon, but, again and again, Eevee proved to small and too agile for Scyther to land a hit.

Bugsy knew that this had turned into an endurance battle. Either the eevee was going to mess up and slip, or Scyther would tire out, and Bugsy knew full well which one was going to happen first.

As one of the attacks came at Eevee, she launched herself with her left legs to the right, and the attack went down and hit concrete. But, when Eevee's right legs went to land on the ground, one of them could no longer take her weight and slipped from under her.

Eevee's eyes grew wide as time slowed down for her, knowing that this slip would cost her a lot. She slowly tumbled to the ground and landed with a soft thud on the pavement.

"Eevee, no!" Whitney cried out.

Bugsy did feel a pang of guilt from what he was about to do, but this was a battle, and a battle means no holding back.

"Scyther, Aerial Ace!"

Scyther jumped into the air and extended her wings. She flew past the eevee and towards Bugsy before turning around mid-flight and back towards the other Pokemon.

The eevee wasn't even able to get back up to her feet before a sharp scythe cut through the fur in her side, which also knocked her back towards her trainer. Scyther flew back towards Bugsy's side of the field, waiting for the next command.

"Scyther, finish this up with U-Turn!" Bugsy gave the final move of the battle.

Scyther shot straight towards the other Pokemon, intent of finishing the battle with this attack.

"No! Eevee, use a Quick Attack!" Whitney said, trying to stop what she knew would be the end of the battle if it hit.

Sadly, Eevee was too injured to move fast enough and was not able to make any kind of move before Scyther was on her. With both her legs, the bug slammed her feet into the small eevee. The evolution Pokemon cried out in pain from the attack.

Right after the kick, Scyther used the opposite force from the attack to launch herself back into the air, do two back flips, and land on the path, using the rest of the momentum to slide on the ground back to where Bugsy was standing, stopping right next to him.

After the battle, the whole park was silent again. Not even the birds from earlier where saying anything. Only the rustling of the leaves dared to make any kind of sound.

Whitney expression was one of devastation. Her eyes were wide and wavering, and her mouth was agape.

"E…Eevee!" She finally got out before running over to her Pokemon. Kneeling down, she picked up her Pokemon and held it close to her body. "Oh, Eevee, I'm so sorry," She got out between gasps. Her tears crawled down her face and dropped onto her Pokemon, slightly soaking her fur. "Here, you should take a good rest," she said while taking off her Pokeball and, with a click of a button, opened it and sucked the tried and beaten eevee back to her Pokeball.

Bugsy and Scyther both made their way over to where Whitney was on the ground.

"Hey, Whitney…I'm…sorry about that," he said, slightly embarrassed. "We might have gone a bit overboard. Eevee will be okay, right?"

Scyther, too, showed her apology with a small bow and a, " _Scyther._ "

"What? Oh, no, it's fine," Whitney said as she got off the ground and wiped away her tears. "It's all part of a battle. She'll be fine after a good rest. If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I just caught Eevee a few days ago, and that was one of the first times I had battled with her. I didn't know her limits. I really was stupid to think she could outlast your Scyther."

After a deep breath and a few more seconds of drying her tears, Whitney spoke again.

"On the bright side, you won!" Whitney brought up. "I didn't even hold back. I knew that you could with if you really tried hard enough." And, with bright-eyes, added, "Does this mean you won't give up on bug types?"

Bugsy's expression turned grim again as he averted his gaze and looked to the ground.

"If only that were the case."

Whitney cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Whitney, you said it yourself." Bugsy began. "You haven't used that Eevee in battle a lot, and so you didn't know how to battle with her or her limits. I can't take pride over a victory of a low level Pokemon like that. If you were to use a Pokemon like your Miltank…" Bugsy looked up and over at Scyther, who also looked at him. "...I'm not sure we would stand much of a chance," he said while looking back at Whitney.  
"Oh, come on! You don't mean that! I'm sure you could do it. In fact, here!" Whitney ran over to the bench from earlier and reached into her backpack. She grabbed a different Pokeball from it while saying, "Why don't we have a rematch. And this time, I'll use my best Pokemon!"

Bugsy shook his head.

"I don't know if w-"

"Bugsy! Bugsy, there you are!" a voice from behind Bugsy shouted. Surprised, Bugsy turned around to see a familiar face running up to him.

"Josh? What's the matter?" Bugsy asked as the bug catcher stopped to catch his breath. He gripped his shorts while he recovered from his run. He took off his brimmed hat and fanned himself before putting it back on.

"Who's this?" Whitney asked out of curiosity while she put the Pokeball in her hand back on her trainer belt.

"Oh, this is Josh. He works at my gym," Bugsy introduced. "Josh, meet Whi-"

"There's no time for that!" He blurted out. "The Pokecenter's been attacked!"

"Wait, what!?" Bugsy shouted out of shock. "What do you mean attacked?"

Josh took a few more breaths before regaining his composure. "Some kind of…bug Pokemon…attacked the Pokecenter. The police are already there, and they sent me to come find you."

Bugsy was still bewildered by this whole event, but he put all the questions he had to the back of his mind and focused on the matter at hand.

"Why do they want me?" he asked.

"It's because no one knows who this bug Pokemon was. The police said they had never seen it before, and they wanted you to come and help them.

It took Bugsy a few seconds to understand the situation, but he nodded all the same. "O…Okay," he stuttered. "Come on, Scythe, let's go!"

And with that, Bugsy ran off towards the Pokecenter, his Pokemon flying after him.

"Hang on, wait for me!" Whitney cried out and sprinted off, running out of the park to catch up with the bug Pokemon expert. They were both eager to find out just what had happened, but neither of them were prepared for what they would find.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. I want to upload two more chapters by the end of the month, but with how I've been doing lately, I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep up with that schedule. XD Anyways, hope you liked it.**


	3. Disaster Strikes

**Hello and welcome to chapter three. This chapter turned out alright, I think, even though it took me a lot longer to write it then I would have liked. But, I digress. I'll let you get to the reading.**

* * *

"H-hey! Bugsy! Can't you wait up a bit?" Whitney called out to the boy running far in front of her.

"There's no time, Whitney!" Bugsy shouted back. "I've got to get to the Pokecenter as fast as possible! They need me!"

Whitney just shook her head. Did they really need him that badly that they couldn't take a small break? She really didn't have the energy to keep up with him after her earlier run around of Azalea and the Pokemon battle they had. Still, she trucked onwards. If softball had taught her anything, it was that you didn't always get the rest you wanted.

Everything that passed Bugsy by was a blur to him. The trees, buildings, people-Bugsy paid none of them any mind. The only thing he thought about was getting to the Pokecenter. He had so many questions, but he pushed them out of his thoughts. Those weren't important right now. He would have time later to think about them.

Bugsy and Scyther rounded a corner and spotted the Pokecenter, or at least, the parts of it they could see. A large throng had gathered outside the building, blocking most of their view.

As the two of them got closer, they could hear one authoritative voice standing out among the chatter of the crowd.

"Move along. This is official police business. There's nothing to see here. Go about your business."

Once Bugsy got to the edge of the crowd, Scyther lowered herself to the ground and tucked in her wings and stood next to her trainer. Bugsy looked around and tried to find some easy way that he could make his way through all the people. He could just shout to get them to move, but that seemed too abrupt for Bugsy's liking.

Instead, he went with the only other way he could think of, which was to work through the group little by little.

Bugsy lightly pushed the people in front of him, throwing in the occasional, "Excuse me," and "Sorry," to make up for his intrusion. Scyther followed close behind him, traveling the path through the people that Bugsy had made. Most of the men and women were slightly annoyed as Bugsy pushed by them, but when they turned to say some insult or sneer, they saw who he was and instantly understood why he was trying to get past them.

Eventually, Bugsy was able to make his way to the front of the crowd. Everyone was huddled around the police tape that surrounded the front of the Pokecenter. A single policewoman stood slightly behind it, trying to get everyone to move on, obviously to no avail. In one hand was a clipboard and in the other she was clutching a pen. She looked down at the paper on the clipboard before looking back up and addressing the crowd.

"This is official police business. You all need to move on!" She shouted to again try to get everyone out of her face. It, like the last few times, didn't work.

"Um, excuse me, miss," Bugsy spoke above the murmur of the crowd to get her attention.

"Like I just told you, you can't get through here!" she snapped in an aggravated tone of voice while turning to face Bugsy. She bent down to look Bugsy directly in the face.

"So I suggest you turn around and…"

The policewoman took a few seconds to look at the boy in front of her. She blinked a couple of times before recognizing who he was.

'Oh! Bugsy! I'm so sorry," she apologized with a small bow. "I just thought you were another one of those reporters who wanted in. Please forgive my rudeness."

"Oh, it's alright. I can imagine how stressful this can be," Bugsy replied while slipping under the yellow tape. Scyther did the same, careful not to cut the tape with her scythes.

"You don't know that half of it." she replied with a shake of her head. She jotted something down on her clipboard and stuck the pen behind her ear before continuing. "Anyways…The chief is waiting for you inside. Go on in,"she said while pointing behind her towards the door with her thumb.

Bugsy thanked her before taking a step towards the center.

"Wait, wait, wait, for me!" a voice screamed above the rest of the crowd. Seconds later, Whitney came barreling through everyone in the mob, shoving and throwing to the side everyone who was in her way. When she got to about the middle of the mass, the people in front of her moved to the side to let her in, more so out of fear than out of respect. Bugsy cringed as he looked back at Whitney's path of destruction.

When Whitney did make it to the front, she put her hands on her hips and took a few good breaths to get her energy back.

The policewoman raised one eyebrow to this newcomer.

"And you are?" she asked, completely unfazed.

"I…I'm Whitney," she got out between breaths. "I'm the leader of the Goldenrod gym," she continued. To prove that she was who she said she was, Whitney took out from her left pants pocket a small pin kinda like Bugsy's, although it was a square and colored gold with a silver outline. The policewoman squinted at the badge, like she was trying to figure out if it's the real deal or not.

"She's…uh…with me," Bugsy interrupted as he took the few steps back over to the woman. She took a few more seconds of judging the badge before looking back down at her clipboard.

"Alright, you can go on though," she relented and wrote another thing down on her paper. "The chief is probably going to need all the help she can get on this one anyway."

As soon as she got the all clear, Whitney ducked under the police tape and stuck her badge back into her pocket.

"Hey, thanks for vouching for me, Bugs-Bugs," Whitney said while the three of them walked back to the doors of the Pokecenter.

"Uh…yeah…don't mention it…" Bugsy got out, still embarrassed from Whitney's trample through the crowd.

The doors of the Pokecenter slid open, and the three of them walked into the building.

The Pokecenter was an absolute mess, to put it plainly. Most of the chairs and tables were thrown everywhere, the glass from the windows was shattered and strewn about, the machines for healing Pokemon were busted open with their circuitry hanging out of the numerous holes in them, and a large gap was missing from the middle of the ceiling while broken bits had fallen down to the ground-just to name a few of the problems.

In the middle of all the ruins, Nurse Joy was standing next to another Policewoman, although her police hat had on a specific emblem, signifying that she was the chief of the Azalea Town police department. Other police officers were running about, sectioning off areas of the building for examination and securing anything that could be used as evidence.

"Are you sure you're alright?" The police chief asked the nurse. "You _were_ hit by a direct blast from the Pokemon."

Nurse Joy nodded her head slightly.

"Yes, I think I'll be fine, Jenny" she spoke softly. "The only thing that was really injured was my arm," she continued, referring to her arm that was cradled by her stomach. She tried to move it slightly, but let out a grunt of pain and almost fell over when she did.

Officer Jenny grabbed her and helped her get her balance back before saying, "Don't move that arm!" She let go of Joy and breathed a sigh. "The ambulance was already called, so just sit down and rest that arm until it gets here, okay?"

Nurse Joy didn't respond verbally, but instead just nodded again. She turned around and started walking towards a table that was still surprisingly intact. That was when she noticed Bugsy had entered..

"Nurse Joy, what happened here?" The bug catcher asked as he walked up to her along with Scyther.

The nurse's eyes lit up for one second when she recognized Bugsy, but then they drooped and became sad the next.

"I…I don't really know. It all happened so fast," she spoke back. Nurse Joy sat down and used her good arm to tap her head to help her remember. "Let's see… I remember I was sitting at my desk, doing some work on my computer, and then the doors opened. I looked up from my computer expecting to see a trainer, but instead it was some kind of Pokemon."

"What Pokemon was it?" Whitney, who had walked over and joined Bugsy, interrupted.

"I don't know," Joy replied with a shake of her head. "It was one I had never seen before."

"What did it look like, Nurse Joy?" Bugsy asked his own question as he knelt down the nurse's level. He still had the thought that it was a bug Pokemon in the back of his mind. "I might be able to identify it if you give me enough details."

"I…can't remember. I didn't have time to process any of that. I think it was a darker shade of color. Like…blue…or purple maybe. I also know it had some kind of cannon or launcher on it's back. That's how it did all this," Joy referred to the destroyed building.

"So after it came in the building, it just, what, starting blowing things up?" Whitney asked.

"Pretty much," Nurse Joy said. "I didn't even have time to stand up before it fired a blast from its launcher at the healing machine that was right behind me. It then went on and started to fire the launcher everywhere at everything in here. I'm glad that I was the only one in the Pokecenter at the time." Nurse Joy's head dropped and she stared at the ground. "I…I tried to stop it, but once I started to move, it just shot me too, which is why my arm is broken."

Bugsy's heart skipped a beat as he heard this.

"Wait, it hit you, too?" Bugsy repeated what she had said. Not because he was hard of hearing, but because he didn't believe it at first. Nurse Joy nodded, but then quickly moved on.

"I don't remember anything after that. I was too stunned to recall what happened."

"We got a call from some people outside the Pokemon Center right as it was happening," Officer Jenny interjected from behind Bugsy, "But by the time we could get here, the Pokemon was already gone. According to bystanders, the Pokemon broke through the roof and flew out of the hole after it was done destroying the Pokecenter" she said, pointing behind her to the gap in the ceiling.

Officer Jenny breathed a deep sigh before properly addressing Bugsy.

"Bugsy, I'm sorry to call you on such a short notice, but you were to only one I could think that could help us here."

"Oh it's alright," Bugsy said as he stood upright and turned around. "I'd love to help, but I need more to go off of to identify the Pokemon. You are sure it's a bug type, right?"

"As far as we know, although it was one that none of the eyewitnesses said they knew; which is why I called you." Jenny took a small pause before continuing. "Our eyewitness reports from outside of the building state that it had bug-like appendages, two arms and two legs, which is why we think it's a bug type. They also said it had some kind of purple steel plating as it's skin." Jenny stopped to let Bugsy intake all the information. "Ring any bells yet?"

"Well, from the description, it sounds like it's a part bug-type and a part steel-type Pokemon," Whitney commented trying to be as helpful as she could be. "Bugsy, how many Bug/Steel type Pokemon are there?"

It took Bugsy a few seconds to respond, as lost in thought as he was by this whole mess.

"Well, let's see. There's Forretress, Scizor, Wormadam-Trash, Escavalier and Durant…" Bugsy trailed off, "Although none of those match your description of the Pokemon." Bugsy brought his hand up to his chin as he gave it some more thought.

"Soooo…" Whitney stretched, expecting an answer.

"I mean, Wormadam in it's trash form can be slightly purplish-pink,like the color you mentioned, but there's no way one could fly out through the ceiling, or cause all of this mess."

As Bugsy talked, Scyther made her way over to the wall and leaned up against it, knowing that she couldn't do anything to help this situation.

"And while Forretress certainly could cause this amount of damage with an explosion," Bugsy continued, "and can levitate using the electromagnetism in its shell, there would be no way it could escape after using all of its energy to use Explosion, let alone that they don't have enough power to fly straight up in the air, so they couldn't have broken through the ceiling. And neither of them have a 'launcher' that Nurse Joy said it had on it's back…" Bugsy paused and then added, "As a matter of fact, none of those Pokemon do…"

"So where does that leave us?" Officer Jenny asked.

Bugsy thought about the other options before answering. Was it possible that it was a new Pokemon that was recently discovered over in the Alola region? No, it couldn't be. Whenever a new bug type is discovered, Bugsy is always one of the first people notified about it. Like when they discovered Vikavolt, or Cutifly, or Wimpod. Bugsy knew about their existence far before anyone in the public knew. So unless this was a new Pokemon that no one had ever seen before-which Bugsy doubted strongly-that wasn't a possibility either.

"Well," the bug-type gym leader finally spoke up, "I guess that maybe it-"  
"Excuse me, ma'am," a voice from the right of Bugsy spoke. Without moving his hand off his chin, Bugsy swiveled his head to the side to see who it was. He almost instantly recognized her as the policewoman from outside. Next to her stood a girl about Bugsy's age. It took a bit longer for him to recognize her, but when he did, he let out a gasp of surprise.

"H-Hillary?" Bugsy exclaimed.

"This young woman claims that she has evidence that could help our investigation," the Policewoman ignored Bugsy's comment and continued.

"Alright, and what kind of evidence is that?" Jenny inquired, trying to sound less stressed out than she really was.

Hillary didn't answer at first, she just fidgeted with her phone in one hand and Bugsy's book still in the other. Eventually, her lips moved as she started to speak.

"I…um…had just left the Pokecenter when the Pokemon attacked," she started. "I saw the Pokemon fly in from the south, land right in front of the Pokecenter, and then walk in."

Hillary shifted her feet around, which caused the light from the roof hole to bounce off of her red dress.

"I…didn't see what it did inside," and then, to the side, quietly, added, "I was too scared to come closer." She turned back to Jenny, but was instantly intimidated by her and shifted her eyes to the ground. "B-but afterwards, it flew up and broke through the roof. After that, it just…floated there looking around, like it was searching for something. After that it condensed itself down to a small form, and then…it just flew off towards the northwest."

Finally, Hillary was able to get up the courage to say what she had been leading up to. She took the phone in her hand a turned it on before getting to her camera.

"As the Pokemon was floating above to Pokecenter, I…um…was able to take this picture of it." Hillary turned the phone around so that Officer Jenny could see it clearly.

She stared at it with her arms crossed for a few seconds before stating, "Yup, I've got no idea what that Pokemon is."

"Ooo, let me take a look!" Whitney exclaimed as she ran up to Hillary, practically shoved Jenny out of the way, and yanked the phone out of the poor girl's hand, who didn't put up any kind of a fight. After she was able to examine the picture, a confused face replaced the happy, childish one that was before it. "That's…a really weird Pokemon," and then added, "Hey, Bugsy, come over here and see this!"

"Alright, let me take a look," Bugsy said was he walked up to Whitney. He got up close next to her to be able to see the photo. Whitney also readjusted the phone so he could get a better look.

Bugsy was expecting that maybe it would just be some Bug-type Pokemon that he hadn't thought of, like one that wasn't bug/steel. Or maybe it wasn't even a bug type, and the bystanders were just wrong in their descriptions.

But that wasn't what it was at all.

What Officer Jenny had told Bugsy was pretty accurate. It was a large Pokemon with bug like arms and legs, a purple steel-like plating on the outside, and a large launcher on it's back, which it was using to hover over the Pokecenter with.

Bugsy was speechless. His mouth was slightly agape at his surprise. The whole entire Pokemon Center was quiet for a few seconds.

"Soooooo?" Whitney was, of course, the person who broke the silence. "Come on, Bugsy. What Pokemon is it?"

Bugys still didn't reply for a few moments, but when he did it came out in fragments.

"I…don't…know…" he was barely able to get out. "I've…never seen this kind of Pokemon before…"

"Huh, well in that case, it must not be a bug-type," Whitney stated, "Because you know all bug types in the world," she said encouraged.

Bugsy shook his head.

"No, this is definitely a bug type; see, look at its arms and legs, as well as those eyes," he pointed out. "There's no way it isn't…It's just one I've never seen…"

"Well if even you don't know what Bug-Pokemon it was," Jenny said, "then we're in deep trouble. I wonder i-"

"Hang on," Whitney blurted out, again interrupting Jenny as a realization hit her. "Which direction did that Pokemon go after it was done wrecking the Pokecenter?" She handed Hillary her phone back while she asked this. The girl sheepishly took it back before replying.

"Um…it took off to the northwest…"

Whitney's eyes bulged.

"That's…the direction of Goldenrod!" She whipped around and faced Bugsy. "You don't think…"

It took him a second, but once he caught what Whitney was implying, Bugsy lightly shook his head in disbelief.

"No…it couldn't, right?" Bugsy said as he figured out what Whitney was thinking. "What point would there be to go to Goldenrod and destroy its Pokecenter too?"

"I dunno…but…to be honest…" Whitney paused and took a moment to look around at the destruction around her. "Seeing all that it did here…" She faced Bugsy, her eyes glazed with fear, her expression a far cry from the childish, happy-go-lucky one that Bugsy was used to.

"It might not need one."

Silence lingered in the room for a few seconds after the normal-type trainer said this as everyone let it sink in.

"If that's the case," Jenny spoke up, "then I'll need to warn the Police station in Goldenrod as soon as possible."

Jenny walked passed Whitney, Bugsy, and Hilary towards the door. Before she exited, she shouted, "Leon, you're in charge while I'm gone!" Which was followed by a, "Yes, Ma'am!" from a Police Officer. Jenny promptly approached the doors to the Pokecenter, which opened automatically. The noise from the crowd outside burst into the building, only to be muffled once again as the doors closed behind Jenny.

The Pokecenter was once more quiet apart for the scuffling of police as they continued their investigation.

Bugsy turned back to the two other people in front of him.

"Well…what now?"

"I don't really know," Bugsy replied. "This all has been really confusing. I was thinking about heading back to my gym to sit down and think about all this."

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea," Whitney agreed. "We left the park so fast that I left all my stuff back there, so I'm going to go grab it and meet back up with you, k?"

"Alright."

After this affirmation, Whitney ran passed Bugsy towards the doors. When they opened for her, the crowd's voices still crescendoed, and then decrescendoed as they closed, although they sounded somewhat softer than last time, probably because Officer Jenny had helped to disperse them.

Bugsy decided that he was going to follow Whitney's lead and leave the Pokecenter. After all, he was no longer needed here. He turned towards the doors and began to walk out of the Pokecenter.

"Come on, Scythe, let's go," Bugsy directed his friend. The bug type pushed herself off the wall and followed behind her trainer outside of the building, leaving Hillary alone.

She stood there for a few seconds, staring at the book in her hand. She raised her head and look at the doors before whispering, "Good luck."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading. It would help me a lot if you told me what you think of the story. School is starting for me soon, so we'll see if that helps or hinders my writing process. If I don't have another chapter up for a while, that's why.**


	4. Goodbye Azalea, Hello Adventure

**Hey guys. Back again with another long overdue chapter. Life n' stuff, you know how it is. Anyway, this is another example of a chapter which I really thought was going to be shorter, but then I keep wanting to add stuff on as I write, and it comes out to be 5,000 words long. I'll let you get to it.**

* * *

The walk back to the gym was a long one. It was the same distance that he had taken almost two hours before when he left the gym, but with Bugsy questioning if he should use bug-types anymore, and the recent Pokemon attack, it certainly felt a lot longer. Add onto that the fact that he had never even seen that said Pokemon, and Bugsy could most certainly be called 'troubled'.

But there was one thing that bugged him more than any of that. Something that he couldn't get rid of. A feeling in his gut that he just couldn't shake.

" _Scy-ther?"_ the Pokemon next to him asked, snapping Bugsy out of his thoughts. He turned to look at his Pokemon. Her eyes were those of concern, clearly being able to tell that Bugsy was struggling with something. Bugsy hadn't realised how slow he had been walking until he saw Scyther taking very small steps as to not get ahead of her trainer. He picked up his speed before replying.

"Yeah, I…I'm fine," Bugsy answered. "I've just…got a lot to think about." With some effort, Bugsy was able to force a smile on his face for his Pokemon. "But, for now, let's just get back to the gym, where you can rest and eat."

Scyther responded with a slight smile of her own and a nod.

Once Bugsy started to pick up the pace, it wasn't long before the two got back to the large, clear glass dome that was the Azalea Town Gym. At least, the top two thirds were glass. The bottom of it was made out of steel, like a lot of normal buildings; it was for structural integrity's sake, as a completely glass building wouldn't stay a building for very long.

The gym had no doors, just a wide, single entryway in the front. Bugsy thought that adding doors to the gym would make it feel less open and natural. True, he had no way to change the temperature on the inside of the gym because of this, which meant that it was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. But, again, all of that made it feel like Bugsy was in nature, and not in some building, something that both he and his Pokemon enjoyed much more than air conditioning or heating.

Once the two of them had entered through the gym entryway, Scyther broke off from Bugsy and flew over to a nearby tree. She landed on the ground, tucked in her wings, and layed down on the ground next to the tree, which was covered from the sun by the shade that the leaves provide. Scyther put her arms behind her head and started to relax, taking a break from everything.

Bugsy had no idea how tired Scyther had been, but then again, she did have two battles in a little under two hours, without much of a break in between. So, really, he couldn't blame her.

A quick look around the gym revealed that all of Bugsy's Pokemon had been let out of their Pokeballs and allowed to roam freely. After lunch everyday, Bugsy usually let all of his Pokemon out and hang around in the gym, as he felt that they didn't like the be held up in their Pokeballs all day. The Pokemon liked their Pokeballs, too, but getting a little bit of fresh air now and then never hurt.

Bugsy quickly came to the conclusion that because he wasn't back when he should have been, Josh must have released them for him.

Heracross and Pinsir, opposite of Scyther, were taking time to enjoy the sunshine, laying down directly under it. It was not unusual for Heracross to do this-he did it almost everyday when the sun was out. Pinsir, however, was not someone who would just lay around while he could be out training. Although, it could just be he was taking a break, or perhaps Heracross had convinced him to take it easy today. Either way, Bugsy was fine with it. Everyone needs breaks now and then.

Butterfree herself was sitting on one of the taller tree's higher branches, close to the battlefield. She was talking with Beedrill, who was on the same branch as her. At least, to Bugsy, it looked like they were talking. It was hard to tell from all the way down where he was.

Beedrill certainly wasn't the most chatty Pokemon ever, but lately he had been talking a bit more than he usually did. Bugsy appreciated that he was at least trying to be more social with the rest of his Pokemon.

A paras was currently residing under one of the benches on the side of the battlefield. It wasn't resting like the others, by the looks of it. Instead, it was peering around the gym, watching all of the others and seeing what they were doing.

This paras was not Bugsy's specifically, and so he did not battle with it. But it still lived here all the same.

The first Pokemon to notice that their trainer had returned was Butterfree. She gave out an excited " _Free!_ " as she cut off her conversation and jumped off the tree. She fell for about a meter or so before she extending her wings and caught herself. Butterfree sored down to the ground and stopped right beside Bugsy before landing on his shoulder.

"Hey, Butterfree," Bugsy greeted his joyful Pokemon with a small giggle of satisfaction and a scratch of her neck, something that gave her much pleasure. "I'm happy to see you, too."

Beedrill wasn't far behind, as he used his own wings to lower himself down to the ground and over to Bugsy. "And you, too, Beedrill," Bugsy added for his other Pokemon. Beedrill gave out a grunt and a nod in response. Bugsy knelt down to Beedrill and gave him a little scratch under his chin, just like with Butterfree, which he enjoyed very much.

"Ah, you're back!" a young voice came to the left of Bugsy, which scared Butterfree enough that she jumped off of Bugsy's shoulder and onto the ground next to Beedrill. A quick head check revealed that the voice belonged to Josh, the gym helper from earlier. His hat was absent, which left his short, brown hair exposed. It was placed on a lower branch from one of the nearby trees, but all the rest of his clothing was the same, from his white tank-top, to his blue shorts, and to his green sandals. He approached Bugsy while bearing a small, grin.

"I let out all the Pokemon for you when you weren't back in time." As Josh said this, the Paras from under the bench crawled out, ran up to him, and climbed up his body to the top of his head. Josh let out a small laugh as it did this, and Bugsy couldn't help but doing the same.

Josh look at Beedrill, then to Butterfree, and then back to Bugsy before speaking again. "As you have most likely figured out, I went and picked up Beedrill and Butterfree up from the Pokemon center while you were out at the park with Whitney." Josh's smile grew a tad larger as he said, "I wanted to do something for you…you know…because you weren't feeling all that great."

A wave of fear hit Bugsy has he remembered the Pokemon that he had left at the Pokemon center. Along with Scyther, Butterfree and Beedrill were in the last gym battle. They were the two that he had given to Nurse Joy. He never did pick them up from the Pokemon center. He was far too distracted by everything else that happened. The fear vanished as quickly as it came as he saw those two Pokemon in front of him. Standing back up, Bugsy wiped his brow and turned to Josh with his own smile.

"Thanks…I had totally forgotten about them with everything else that happened. When did you pick them up?" Bugsy asked his helper.

Josh was silent for a second after Bugsy asked this question. His eyes fixed themselves on his sandals. He moved his mouth a few times, like he was about to say something, but stopped. Eventually, he built up the courage to say, "It was…right before the attack."

Bugsy's expression dropped when the attack was mentioned. All the previous emotions that had temporarily been forgotten had suddenly and jarringly came back to his mind.

"I had just left the Pokemon Center with them when that Pokemon attacked," Josh continued. "I was there when the Police arrived, and when I told them I thought the Pokemon looked like a bug-type, they told me to go and get you…And you know the rest."

"Wait, you saw the Pokemon in person?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah. From all the time I spent working here, I knew it looked like a bug type, but it wasn't one I had ever seen. But I knew you would know what it is, right? Which one was it?"

Bugsy casually gave a slight shrug. "I dunno. Turns out I don't know which one it is either."

A face of confusion appeared on Josh's face.

"But you know all the bug types that exist, don't you?"

"Well, I certainly used to," Bugsy said, not in a somber tone, but not a cheerful one either. "It's weird to think that there's a bug type out there that I don't know," he acknowledged, "but that's not what's bothering me the most," he continued. "It's the fact that-"

"WHOA!" a shout from the entrance cut off Bugsy from his explanation. Whitney stood in the doorway, with her bag once again on her back, her hands on the straps, looking around the gym with wide eyes. She looked like a child that had just entered a circus, trying to take in everything around her. Her outburst was so sudden that it startled poor little Butterfree, and she dived behind Bugsy's leg.

"Bugsy, your gym is so cool!" Whitney exclaimed as she walked over to him and Josh, still staring at the gym all around her.

"Whitney, you've been in my gym before," Bugsy replied as a statement of fact, finding himself once again bewildered at the girl's antics. "Why are you so surprised?"

Butterfree, now over the initial fright, gradually made her way back to beside Bugsy, standing in between him and Beedrill.

"I know, I know," Whitney defended herself she was able to pry her eyes off of the scenery and look at Bugsy directly. "It's just that I forget how cool it is. It's practically a walk in forest. Much cooler than that dusty old building I have back at Goldenrod."

"It _is_ a walk in forest. That's the point, Whitney," Bugsy replied with a slight shake of his head and an even slighter grin. With all the trouble and stress going on right now, Whitney's shenanigans were a nice change.

"Aww, now aren't you a cutie," Whitney commented as she crouched down to Butterfree's level. She stretched out her hand to pet her, but Butterfree, scared of the stranger that had entered the gym, once again hide behind Bugsy for protection. Bugsy couldn't help but let out a small laugh at this.

"Don't mind her, Whitney. She's always that shy to people she doesn't know."

"Oh…okay," Whitney moped as she stood up, still with a mild face of disappointment.

"Alright then, I guess I'll go sweep the battlefield," said Josh, deciding that he was no longer a part of this conversation. "Gotta get all the debris off from the last battle before the next challenger comes." He turned around to go get a broom before Bugsy stopped him.

"That…won't be necessary," Bugsy told Josh in a low voice. Josh turned around and faced Bugsy.

"What do you mean? We always clean the battlefield for the challengers."

"That's the thing," Bugsy explained. "We aren't going to have anymore challengers."

"Wait…what?" Josh asked out of confusion.

"Bugsy, what are you talking about?" Whitney asked, who was also perplexed by her friend's words.

"Think about it," Bugsy began, putting his hands in front of him while he explained. "With the Pokecenter now out of commision for the foreseeable future, it's not going to be safe to battle. If a Pokemon gets seriously injured, you won't be able to heal it," Bugsy put down his hands and huffed a sigh before finishing with, "So I'm closing the gym for now."

An eerie silence rose across the gym from Bugsy's words. The paras on Josh's head quickly scuttled down to his shoulder to get to a more comfortable position

"Are you sure, Bugsy?" Josh asked after a moment, letting what Bugsy had said sink in.

"It's not my call," he replied."The Official League rules state that a gym can only be placed within two kilometers of a reliable source of medical care. If there suddenly isn't for any reason, then it has to be closed for reasons of safety. If I didn't do it now, the League would force me to once they hear of the attack."

"Oh, yeah…I do remember that rule," Whitney said. She had never been good at remembering all the little details and rules of things. "Are there really no other Pokecenters in Azalea?"

Bugsy turned to his pink-haired friend and shook his head.

"No. The town's so small that they only need one. The next nearest one is at the exit out of Ilex forest, which is much too far if you have an emergency."

"Well, if the gym is closed, what are we going to do?" Josh asked, seeing as how his job was working at the gym, and he couldn't well do that if it was closed.

"There's not much that we _can_ do, Josh," Bugsy replied, as saddened by that truth as the other bug catcher was. "We'll just have to wait till the center is restored. Of course, this is a Pokemon habitat as much as it is a gym. We'll still need to take care of all of them, but battling will be out of the picture."

"I see…," Josh said, starting to fully understand what was happening. "Alright then, I guess I'll go and feed the Pokemon then," he said, giving himself a new task to focus on. Hearing the word 'feed' really excited Butterfree as she left her trainer's side and followed Josh. Beedrill, who was also hungry, decided to follow after her. Again, despite everything that was happening, Bugsy could help but smile at his bugs as they floated away from him and after the beckoning Josh. No matter how grim the situation, or what he was going through, Bugsy could always trust that his bugs would cheer him up.

"So if the gym's closed," Whitney started, which prompted Bugsy to take his gaze off the bugs and back on Whitney, "then what are you going to do in the meantime, you know, while the center is being fixed?"

Bugsy scratched his head. He hadn't really given much thought, to be honest. Too many other things had claimed his attention.

"I dunno," Bugsy voiced his thoughts. "I haven't really thought about it. I'm just too confused, at the moment."

"About what?" Whitney asked with a cocked head. Almost immediately after she asked, however, she remembered exactly what Bugsy was confused about. "Oh yeah," she added, barely above a whisper.

Bugsy walked over to a tree nearby, his net still leaning on it from where he had left it since he had been gone from the gym. Grabbing it, Bugsy slowly walked over to a bench that rested on the edges of the battlefield and sat down on it.

Turning the net over and over again in his hand, the bug catcher stared at it intensely. The net was a gift from his father when he had just become a trainer, and had always stood as a symbol for his love of bug-types. He had carried it almost everywhere, and held it in any battle he was in. But now, it was just a painful reminder of all the losses that he had.

He wouldn't need to decide soon, seeing as how his gym would be closed for a bit, but he would have to make the decision at some point. Doing it while his gym was closed would be the perfect time to change the type he was training.

"You wanna know what I think?" Whitney asked as she came over and sat down on the bench next to Bugsy. She took her bag off her back and set it down beside the bench.

Bugsy didn't answer, but continued to spin the net horizontally with both of his hands.

"I think that you should just use the type of Pokemon that you love the best, no matter how good they may or may not be," Whitney continued. She wasn't looking at Bugsy while she spoke, and instead peered across the gym. "I use normal types, not because I think they're the best, nor are they incredibly strong." She shook her head. "No, I use normal types because they're the cutest and most adorable type. You said a while ago that you still love bug types, and I think that's reason enough to keep using them, no matter how strong they may or may not be."

After Whitney had finished her speech, she turned towards her backpack, grabbed it, zipped it open, and fished out her box of chocolates from earlier. Taking the lid off, she grabbed one and plopped it into her mouth. She knew that she shouldn't be eating them, but they tasted so good, she couldn't help it.

"It's not that simple, Whitney." Bugsy responded back without looking up from his net. Whitney, surprised by this answer, got out a muffled, "Mhf?" as she was eating her chocolate.

"You don't use bug types, so you wouldn't know how strong they are." Bugsy took a deep sigh and looked at Whitney as he thought about what he was going to say next.

"See, I would love nothing more than to keep using bug types," he continued, "but the fact is that if I want to become a better battler, I'm going to need to use a type that can battle better." Bugsy restated his point from earlier.

Whitney swallowed her chocolate, but didn't say anything. It was possible that Bugsy had a point. She, in fact, never had really used Bug types. So maybe he was right in saying that you couldn't use them in very high level battles.

"But that's not that main thing that I'm confused about," Bugsy advanced to the real point. Whintey's thoughtful expression from before turned into one of inquiry.

"It isn't?"

"Well, it's been on my mind, sure, but the main thing is that Bug pokemon that invaded the Pokemon center," Bugsy stated. "When Nurse Joy tried to stop it, the Pokemon hit her with one of its attacks."

Bugsy took a pause to let this sink in with Whitney. When she didn't reply, he continued as his eyes narrowed.

"Pokemon don't attack a person directly, or destroy a building, for that matter, without a good cause, they're angry, or their trainer orders it to. Since I wouldn't categorize attacking a nurse and destroying a building as a 'good cause' it's gotta be one of the latter two."

"What would cause a Pokemon so much anger that they'd want to blow up and entire Pokecenter _and_ injure the nurse working there?" Whitney posed the question as her way of contributing. "Or why would a trainer want to order it do that?"

"I don't know either," Bugsy answered. He got up from his seat and then, kneeling to the ground, he grabbed his bug net from the ground, and stood up with it in hand. With a little bit of force, he struck the long part of the wooden grip into the grassy dirt. "But I need to find out," he declared. "If not for my wonderings or for other people's safety, then for that Pokemon. I need to find out what drove it to do something like this."

Finally, to say what he had been leading up to, Bugsy lightly slid his net upwards and lowered his grip on it before slugging it on his shoulder, declaring, "And that's why I have to go after it."

In true Whitney fashion, the girl sprang up to her feet with a gasp and a "W-What!?" She stood silently for a few seconds with her hands covering her mouth. When she finally did get her voice back she responded with, "You can't be serious!"

"And why not?" Bugsy came back, quite a bit more aggressive than he had meant it. "There is a bug Pokemon out there that needs help because it's angry or is being forced against its will to do something, maybe even both." Bugsy almost shouted. He slowed down and tried to calm himself down.

Butterfree, Beedrill, and Pinsir had turned around to look at him from across the battlefield, where they were eating. Scyther had woken up from her rest to peer over at what had made her master so upset. Josh, who had been putting food into the bowls, joined all the Pokemon in looking at Bugsy. In fact, the only one who didn't look over was Heracross, who was eating his food without a care.

Bugsy turned back to his friend and took a deep calming breath while lowing his net back to his side. "I love Bug Pokemon, and seeing them suffer enough to want to, or be forced to, destroy an entire building and injure innocent people…it…it..." Bugsy paused to look Whitney in her eyes before having to close his own. "It breaks my heart."

The whole gym was silent after this remark apart from the blowing of the Spring wind and a few sniffles from Bugsy.

"And that's why," Bugsy said while clearing away a tear from his eye. "That's why I can't-why I won't-sit idly by." Clearing his face from all water, Bugsy looked back up and said again, this time in a more stern voice and with more valor. "That's why I have to go after it. I need to find that Pokemon and help it, in anyway I can."

The gym was quiet once again, the only sounds being Josh continuing to pour food, this time into Scyther's bowl.

Once Whitney had time to process this, she took her hands off her mouth and put one to her side and the other near her chest.

"You really are serious, aren't you?" she asked as if she wasn't sure before. Bugsy only gave a slight nod in reply. Whitney looked down to the grass as she took in what this meant. After a few seconds of intense thought, the girl nodded a few times to herself before straightening back up

"In that case," she said while tucking in her arms, "I'm coming with you!"

Now, it was Bugsy's turn to be surprised.

"Whitney, you really don't have to. I'm not asking you to come with me."

"Yeah, you're not asking. I'm the one telling you I'm going!" Whitney declared as she pointed towards Bugsy. "There's no way I'd let one of my best friends go after a dangerous Pokemon alone. And besides, I need to go back to Goldenrod anyway. It all works out in the end." After all this, Whitney added to it with a wide grin, saying, "So, when do we leave?"

Bugsy knew full well he couldn't change the girl's mind. "I need to pack up for a journey that will take who knows how long. It's going to be about an hour, so meet me outside of town an hour from now. Sound good?"

"Yup, sure does!" Whitney cried out, as skidy as a schoolgirl. "Oh, I can't wait for this adventure. I'll meet you there!"

Whitney ran passed Bugsy and out of the gym with the speed of a softball player, and like that, she was gone.

Giving another chuckle at Whitney's antics, Bugsy walked over to Josh, who was still by the food bowls, all of them having been filled now. Scyther got up from her spot on the ground and walked over to Josh as well, joining Bugsy beside him.

"Don't worry, I'll hold the fort while you're gone," Josh said with a smile as Bugsy approached him putting down the bag of food he had, his paras still on his shoulder. "After all, with the gym closed, I won't have too much to do."

"Thanks for that, Josh," Bugsy said with genuine gratitude and a nod. "I hate to leave you on such short notice, but I know that you'll keep all of my Pokemon in good health." Bugsy paused as he thought of something he hadn't before. "Speaking of Pokemon, I need to pick which ones I'm going to be bringing with me." Bugsy briefly scanned the Pokemon that were in front of him. "This is going to be a long trip, so I need to pack light. Therefore, I can't bring a ton of Pokemon food with me. I'll only have enough room for about two Pokemon."

A " _Scy-ther?"_ came from behind Bugsy. He swung his head to the side to see Scyther herself come beside him. She wasn't looking at her trainer at first, but soon turned to look at Bugsy. Her blue eyes were waiting in anticipation to what Bugsy would say next.

"Of course I'm taking you," Bugsy said. "I'm just wondering who the other one should be."

Butterfree and Beedrill, either of them would be good, and so would Pinsir. All of them were well trained. But Bugsy's eyes fell onto the last one, who wasn't paying attention to Bugsy at the moment. Heracross was still munching down on his food and didn't seem to care about what Bugsy was about to do.

"Heracross," Bugsy called to him. As soon as his name was called, the beetle turned away from his food and at Bugsy.

"I want you to come with me," Bugsy stated. He didn't know why he decided to bring Heracross along. The idea just came to him. He hadn't done much as of late, and Bugsy didn't want him to become rusty from not battling often. Heracross was a bit surprised by this sudden choosing, but after he recovered, he gave out a confident nod.

" _Hera!"_

"Alright, then it's decided," Bugsy finalized it with his words. "I'll take Scyther and Heracross." He turned around to the mantis Pokemon behind him. "Go ahead and eat up, Scythe," Bugsy said to her, seeing as how Heracross was already doing so. "I'll be back in a little under an hour to pick you two up, so be looking for me then."

Scyther acknowledged this with a nod and a cry before leaving Bugsy's presence to go and eat. The gym leader gave one last smile at all of his Pokemon eating before walking away and leaving out of the large door of the gym.

* * *

After Bugsy got to his house, it took him about 45 minutes to get everything that he needed for a long journey. First, he changed from his official Gym leader attire to something a bit more casual; some denim jeans and a plain green t-shirt with a web design across the chest. Over this he wore a light blue jacket which he had gotten for his birthday a few months ago.

After this, he packed everything he could think of that his large, green mountain backpack could hold. Extra pairs of clothes, his Pokegear and Pokedex, food-for him and his Pokemon both-his sleeping bag, some first aid supplies, and other miscellaneous stuff, like a rope, a flashlight with extra batteries, and a lighter to help him start fires and of course, his trusty bug-catching net.

Needless to say, Bugsy was prepared for anything. Traveling away from home for long periods of time was not new to him. Quite a few times he had gone away from home for an extended trip to study Bug Pokemon in Johto. And this, if he really thought about it, wasn't really different.

Once he had double checked and triple checked all of his items, Bugsy walked out of his house with his large backpack in tow. He was greeted by the bright sun that was lowering in the sky. With a long and deep breath, Bugsy stepped away from his house, taking one last look at it, and then walked back towards the gym to pick up his Pokemon.

It didn't take long for him to get back. His Pokemon as well as Josh were all waiting for him there in front of the gym.

"Well, looks like it's too late to change your mind, eh?" Josh asked as Bugsy approached.

"Josh, it was too late once I first thought of going," Bugsy replied. He stopped in front of his friend and looked at him straight on. "I hate to leave you by yourself to take care of the gym, but I only do it because I know you can."

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Josh replied. "It's just…going to be so lonely, with you and two of the Pokemon gone…But, I'll make sure the gym and your Pokemon are just as you left it. Better, even."

"I know you will."

After saying goodbye to Beedrill and Pinsir, and giving Butterfree a hug in addition, Josh handed Bugsy Heracross's Pokeball. He returned him before putting it on his belt. Bugsy already knew Scyther wouldn't want to go into her's so he wasn't even going to try.

"Well, Scythe, you all set?" Bugsy asked. The bug type replied simply with a, " _Scythe_ ," and a nod, which was good enough for Bugsy. The two of them started to walk away while waving goodbye. Josh and the Pokemon returned the gesture and waved back.

The two groups continued to wave until Bugsy and Scyther turned a corner, and they were out of sight. Once they did, Josh put his arm down, breathed a deep sigh, and headed back into the gym saying, "Come on guys, let's get back inside," urging them to do the same.

* * *

When Whitney saw Bugsy and Scyther approaching the edge of town, she ran up to them.

"Finally, you're here," Whitney said impatiently. "I've been waiting forever now to get going. Nice outfit, by the way."

"Whitney, I told you we'd leave in an hour," Bugsy retorted, "and it's been about that."

"I know, but an hour is still a very long time to wait," Whitney huffed. She turned her back on Bugsy to look across the land in front of them. A winding path led it's way towards Ilex forest, which Whitney could see from here.

"Well, the sooner we leave, the sooner we can track down that Bug Pokemon, so let's get going right away!"

And with that declaration, Whitney was off, running down the path at breakneck speed, not even thinking of that fact that Bugsy was no where near her volocity. He started to call out to her, but realised pretty quickly that it wasn't going to do any good.

"Well, we better try to catch up, huh Scythe?"

Scyther gave a nod in agreement as Bugsy grabbed the straps of his backpack and leaned down to get ready to run. But before he could get started, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"I guess I was right then," she said. Surprised, Bugsy straightened up and turned around. The girl in front of him was standing still, her red glittery dress blowing in the mid-afternoon wind.

"Hillary?"

"I thought the you might decide to go after that Pokemon," Hillary continued. She let out a light laugh and then said, "Guess I was right, huh?"

Bugsy wondered how she could have figured that out or knew when he was leaving. He didn't voice any of those questions, however, and instead just looked at the ground for a moment before answering her.

"I-I have to. I have to find out why this Pokemon is doing this, and, if possible, help it in any way I can."

"You're a nice person, Bugsy," Hillary replied with a smile. "Good luck."

Bugsy returned this with one of his own.

"Thanks."

"You too, Scyther," Hillary added, not wanting to disclude her.

" _Scyther."_

Bugsy looked over his shoulder to see Whitney in the distance waving for him to hurry up, before turning around and running down the path once more.

"Well, I better see if I can catch up with her," Bugsy said jokingly. "I'll see you around."

After this, Bugsy grabbed the straps of his bag once again and ran down the path towards Whitney. Scyther brought out her wings and flew down the path along side her trainer. As they ran, Hillary watched them go. She didn't say anything or even wave, but instead, she just watched.

Afterall, she knew that she would be seeing them again soon enough.

* * *

 **Again, sorry for the long chapter, but this does mark the end to the exposition chapters, which means we're getting straight into the rising action next. Anyways, thanks for reading.**


	5. Forest of Intrigue-Part 1

**Hey all, and welcome to chapter 5. This chapter isn't as long as some of mine, and I was originally going to pair it and the next chapter together, but that might have been 7,000+ words, so I decided that it might be better to split this one.**

 **There's a bit of head canon in this chapter, but most of it is just adapted from actual canon, so it may not make too much of a difference, if you even care about that kind of stuff at all. Felt like I should mention it anyway.**

 **Anyways, I'll let you get to it.**

* * *

Whitney couldn't help but be in awe of the nature that surrounded her. From the trees with their leaves that blocked all but a little sunlight, to the grass that covered the ground and the base of rocks, to all the bug and bird Pokemon that made their home in this forest. There was so much beauty to see around her that she was having a hard time taking it all in.

Whitney had traveled through this forest just this morning when she went to Azalea Town, but, for some reason, the majesty of nature didn't strike her then.

Maybe the setting sun was shining brighter and that gave the life of the forest a more vibrant color. Maybe it was the sense of adventure that she now had; the fact that they were on a quest to stop some great evil made everything seem more real. Or, perhaps, it was that she wasn't alone, and the sole fact that she could share this nature with someone else gave it new meaning.

Whether it was one of those reasons, or a combination of them, it didn't matter to her. It all felt so awesome that she didn't really care.

"Wow, this feels so nice," Whitney said as she stepped up onto a fallen log and breathed in the forest air. "And how many times did you say you come here?" Whitney asked her companion behind her.

"I try to make it out here once a month for my research," Bugsy replied. "Although my job at the gym makes it hard to find the time."

"Yeah, I can get that," Whitney agreed. She started to walk forward again as Bugsy and Scyther caught up with her, and they all walked side by side. "The gym takes up so much of your time that I sometimes forget what my life was before I was a gym leader. Like, what did I do with all that free time?"

"Hah, I know, right?" Bugsy agreed with a hearty laugh.

The three of them walked in silence for a bit, just letting nature set into them.

"Still though," Whitney said, breaking the silence, "I would love to make it out here even once every three months. I should come and visit you more often, huh?"

"That was one of the reasons I applied for the gym leader at Azalea. Because of how close it was to this forest. It helps me out with my research. Not to mention how nice of a spot it is to relax at."

"Yeah, that _is_ a good selling point," Whiney replied. She paused for a second before asking. "Um, was it hard? To, uh, get that position? Like, what was your competition?" she asked, as if she hadn't had any experience in the matter. Bugsy was curious about the way she said that, but he answered it all the same.

"Well, there were a few hot-shot trainers out there who wanted to be a gym leader, when the position opened up. And honestly…" Bugsy took a breath before finishing, "...some of them _were_ better at battling than me. But I guess my research won the day, because I got the job. That was before I had published my book, and before I discovered Fury Cutter, so not a lot of it was very substantial. Still, the League thought I had the most promise, so they picked me."

Whitney let out a small laugh. "And look at you now, the head of Bug Pokemon research in Johto. You're practically famous."

"Well…uh…I dunno about the famous part," Bugsy said, slightly embarrassed from Whitney's flattery. "Anyway, how about you? I bet in a big city like Goldenrod, it must be hard to get the gym leader job there."

Whitney playfully shook her head.

"Nope, not at all."

"What do you mean, not at all?" Bugsy asked, very surprised by this answer.

"There wasn't any competition. I was hand picked by the Pokemon League to be the gym leader."

Bugsy was silent for a second, processing this new information. "You're kidding, right?" He finally said out of disbelief.

It was true that the Pokemon League did occasionally choose people to be gym leaders, but most of the time, either the previous leader would pick a successor, or, if they didn't or couldn't, they would open the position up for people to apply for, like in Bugsy's case.

But for the league to select someone themselves, they had to be good enough to catch their attention, which is to say, really good. Bugsy knew Whitney was a strong trainer, but not that strong. Whitney covered her mouth as she laughed, finding it funny that he was now the one amazed by something she said.

"Have I really never told you this?" Whitney asked with a large grin. Bugsy shook his head.

"No, never. Tell me, how were you picked?"

"Well, let's see…" Whitney put up a finger up to her chin as she tried to recall the story. "It was about-eh, I don't know-it was a while ago anyways. See, all of my friends had just gotten into Pokemon and had become trainers. Since I didn't want to be behind on the times and to stay relevant, I decided to get into it, too."

Whitney stopped talking for a second to step over a large, moss covered fallen tree that was in their way. She made sure that Bugsy and Scyther were over it before she continued.

"See, I have relatives that live up near Ecruteak, and they live on a Miltank farm. When I told them I wanted to become a trainer, they gave me a Miltank as my starter Pokemon, which is the same one I have today," She said with a large smile.

The girl grabbed the aforementioned Pokemon's Pokeball of her belt and clasped it tightly in her hands. "She's just the cutest thing. And she's super strong too. I'm really glad that I got her as my first Pokemon. When I got back to the city, I was able to beat all of my friends just using her. I was undefeated for quite a while. It wasn't until I became a gym leader that I lost. I even beat the previous gym leader and won his badge, the Balance Badge, I think was it's name. In fact, I think I still have it."

Whitney put the Pokeball in her hands back on her belt and padded her pockets in search of the badge. "Maybe I left it back at the gym," Whitney wondered after a few seconds of not finding it.

"Anyway," she stated, trying not to get off topic, "The previous gym leader, I think his name was-um-Namin, or…maybe Nathan. It was something that started with an 'N'. He and his family moved to Hoenn, so they looked for someone to replace him. I guess I had got pretty famous around town as being undefeated, because a representative asked me if I wanted to battle him for the next gym leader spot. Of course I accepted, and then beat him. They gave me the job right then and there, and I've been the Goldenrod gym leader ever since."

"Wow, that's pretty cool," Bugsy commented. He looked past Whitney and up at dark leaves behind her. "A lot cooler than my story," he then added wistfully.

"Hey, you know, it's starting to get pretty dark." Whitney said. "Do you think we should start setting up camp?"

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea," Bugsy agreed. It was getting harder and harder for him to see. "You okay with that, Scythe?" he asked the bug type next to him. She wasn't prepared for him to ask her something, so she didn't answer right away.

She replied with a " _Scythe,_ " and a shrug, symbolizing an "okay," or "sure," not showing much interest either way. Bugsy knew this would be her response, but he still wanted to give her the freedom of expressing herself.

"Alright then, let's find a clearing we can set up at," Bugsy said.

It wasn't too much longer until the three of them found a small gap of trees where they could set up. Bugsy and Scyther went to find some firewood and kindling while Whitney prepared the bowls and food for the Pokemon that she had brought with her. When Bugsy and Scyther had grabbed all the wood and dry grass they could find, they returned to the clearing and Bugsy started to get the fire ready.

"Hey, Bugsy," Whitney said to get his attention. The bug catcher looked up from the pile of wood and grass in front of him to the girl who called to him.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"What Pokemon is that?" she asked before pointing towards a tree branch with the hand that didn't have the food bag. "It's not one that I know."

Curious, Bugsy turned to looked at where she was pointing. Towards the top of a tree was a small, black and orange Pokemon with tan wings that were a bit larger than it's body. It was currently resting on the branch, flapping it's wings idly while continuing to eye down the two in the clearing. It was kinda hard to see in the ever darkening night, but it was surely there.

"Oh, that guy?" Bugsy asked and pointed, even though he knew that was the only Pokemon she could be referring to. "That's Mothim, the moth Pokemon, and the evolved form of a male Burmy. " Bugsy turned back to the pile of sticks and grass he had at his feet and continued to bunch them together the best he could.

"It has no particular habitat," Bugsy went on, "but instead flies around the land, searching for its favorite nectar."

After Bugsy said this, he fished out of his jean pocket a bright red device. The cover flipped open, and he pointed it at the Mothim in the tree. After a press of a button, a loud ding, came from it, which startled the Pokemon and caused it to fly to another nearby tree branch.

" **Mothim,** " the Pokedex read aloud in it's male, robotic voice. **"the moth Pokemon, and the evolved form of a male Burmy. It has no particular habitat, but instead flies across the land, searching for its favorite nectar.** "

Bugsy made a mental note in his head about the one word he messed up before sliding the Pokedex back into his pocket and resumed getting the fire ready.

Whitney, however, either didn't notice he had messed up, or didn't care. No matter which, she was stunned by this act.

"Wha- How the heck did you know that?" she said, once again being the one surprised.

"Well, when you work with Bug Pokemon as much as I do," Bugsy replied without looking up, "Then you tend to hear their dex entries a lot, and memorization comes along with it. It's honestly not as hard as you might think."

"Well, I still thought it was cool. How many of them do you know?" Whitney asked with genuine interest. No longer distracted by the Pokemon, she resumed filling all of the bowls with Pokemon food.

"Well, I would bet that I could say most of them at least partially. I might leave out or replace words here or there, but I've heard them so much that I know a lot of them."

"Wow…" Whitney said out of admiration. "I wish I could know half the things he does about bug types,"she added to herself quietly. She was so absorbed by Bugsy's factual knowledge that she didn't realize she had poured too much into the food bowl until it was already overflowing and dropping onto the ground.

"Oh, whoops!" Whitney cried as she lifted up the food bag in her attempts to stop anymore from coming out.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Bugsy called over to her. "That one can be Heracross'. He'll certainly eat all of it, even the ones on the ground."

"Okay, that good," Whitney replied with relief as she set down the food bag and wiped her brow, more so as an expression than actually getting rid of any sweat from her forehead. She took the two Pokeballs on her belt, enlarged them and then threw them up, shouting, "Alright guys, it's time to eat!"

As the two Pokeballs were still in the air, they both opened up with a bright light and released two Pokemon onto the ground. The first one was the Eevee that Bugsy and Scyther had battled earlier. The second was a large, white and pink, cow-like Pokemon. Bugsy recognized it as her Miltank, the same one that Whitney had talked about before.

As soon as they were out of the balls, the two of them started chowing down on their food. Bugsy was about to release Heracross, but the Pokemon beat him to it, and broke out himself before his trainer was even able to grab the ball of his belt. Without any permission, Heracross walked to the over-filled bowl and started to gobble down the food with passion.

Bugsy shook his head and smiled at this before going back to preparing the fire.

"You can go and eat, Scythe, I think I got this," Bugsy gave his other Pokemon permission to go and eat without looking up. Scyther nodded and casually walked over to the last bowl. She sat down criss-cross and started to pick up the food and eat it.

Although she would never admit it, Scyther was pretty hungry. All the battling and walking during the day had her using more energy than usual. Add in the excitement about going away on a 'quest' to stop that mystery Pokemon, and Scyther had worked up quite an appetite. She tried not to show it and ate a lot slower than she wanted to.

Finally, after Bugsy had decided that he had sufficiently created a place where a fire could be sustained, he grabbed his lighter out from his backpack and lit some of the kindling. Slowly, he added small twigs to the fire, and then larger ones, gradually adding bigger and more substantial sticks as he built the fire up.

It was true, they didn't really need to make a fire. They didn't need to cook anything, and it wasn't cold, which were the two main reasons for one. But, Bugsy still liked doing it, if nothing else than for ambiance.

Now, with the fire made, Bugsy decided that he would get something to eat himself. He headed over to his bag and grabbed out of it a sandwich, which was tightly sealed in a plastic bag itself.

"Hey, Bugsy, do you have anymore of those?" Whitney asked from where she was sitting. Bugsy noticed that Whitney wasn't eating anything herself.

"Why? Don't you have something to eat?"

"No," Whitney said with a shake of her head. "I only packed snacks because I didn't think I would be camping out, and I already ate all of them."

With an audible sigh, Bugsy grabbed another sandwich from his bag and tossed it over the Pokemon towards Whitney, who caught it with ease.

"Thanks, Bugs-Bugs!" Whitney thanked before opening the bag and taking out the food inside, and biting into it. Whitney gave a shrug when she tasted it. Ham and Cheese. Not her favorite, but beggars couldn't be choosers. She started to scarf it down with vigor. Out of all of them, she was probably the hungriest, and the way she ate reflected this.

As Bugsy sat down next to Scyther and took a bite out of his, a thought came to mind.

"Wait, if you weren't planning to camp out," he said after swallowing, "does that mean you didn't bring a sleeping bag either?" Bugsy looked over to Whitney's bag and found none.

"No…" Whitney replied as she simply stared at her half eaten sandwich, confirming what Bugsy had thought."

"Were you planning on sleeping on the ground?"

"I…I guess." Whitney said, her voice rich with regret. Bugsy could tell that Whitney hadn't prepared nearly well enough for a journey as much as Bugsy had. Then again, she didn't know she was going to go on one when she packed to go to Azalea, so it wasn't entirely her fault.

"That's fine." Bugsy decided. "You can use mine for now."

Whitney was so surprised by this that she almost dropped her food.

"A-are you sure? Won't you be cold?"

"Nah, the fire will keep me warm. Besides, I've had to sleep on the ground a few times before when I was out here. I'll make do."

"Alright…if you're sure," Whitney replied, not wanting to take something that was his, but gladly accepting since he offered.

After this, the group ate in silence. Once everyone was done, Whitney let out a long yawn as she stretched her arms.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm really tired."

"Yeah, I don't blame you," Bugsy replied as he got up from the ground. "Traveling all day really does tucker you out." Bugsy turned towards his Pokemon. "How about you guys? Want to sleep out here or in your Pokeballs?"

Instead of answering, Heracross went over and laid next to the fire, his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. Bugsy took this to mean that he wanted to stay outside tonight.

"What about you, Scythe? You alright with sleeping out here too?"

Scyther nodded in response.

"How about we all sleep out here together?" Whitney asked her Pokemon. Both of them liked the idea of sleeping under the stars, since they didn't get the option very often, so they both agreed.

"Hey, Whitney, catch." Bugsy took his rolled up sleeping bag and threw it at Whitney. Even though she wasn't expecting it, her softball instincts kicked in and she grabbed it easily.

"Thanks again, Bugsy," Whitney said once more as she unraveled it.

"No problem," he replied while lying down next to the fire across from Heracross.

The grass was surprisingly soft, a lot softer than he expected anyway. And, with the heat from the fire warming him up, as well as Scyther laying down next to him…Bugsy closed his eyes. Yeah, he could make this work. Wasn't the best, but he's certainly had worse.

."Hey, Bugsy?" Whitney called his name one more time from her position inside the sleeping bag.

"Yeah?" Bugsy replied as he reopened his eyes.

"Do you think that…that bug Pokemon's already at Goldenrod?" she asked seriously, obviously worried about her hometown.

"I…don't know," Bugsy said back, not expecting this kind of question from Whitney out of the blue. "I mean, I think it certainly could have gotten there by now if it wanted to, but what it would do once it got there…" Bugsy hesitated before stating, "I've got no clue. I'm still trying to find out why it did what it did in Azalea."

Whitney was silent after this. Bugsy wished he could comfort her in some way. He didn't like seeing her worried like this instead of her usual happy, carefree self. But there was nothing that he could say other than what he already had.

He understood why she was worrying. If it was him, Bugsy wouldn't even want to sleep, knowing that a destructive Pokemon could be damaging or injuring places and people you love. But there was nothing they could do, not now, at least. They had to wait until they got there.

"Good night, Bugsy," Whitney snapped Bugsy out of his melancholy thoughts.

"Yeah…good night," he replied before closing his eyes again and tried his best to go to sleep.

* * *

But a good night is not what Bugsy had at all. He couldn't sleep, even after what had seemed like hours of trying, and after the fire had been out for a while. It wasn't because he was uncomfortable; he actually felt quite fine, considering he was sleeping on the ground. It wasn't because of the noises of the night-time forest; he could tune those out just fine. No, the real reason he couldn't sleep was because of his thoughts. There was one thought that, no matter how hard he tried to get it out of his head, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Finally deciding that he couldn't sleep, Bugsy got up off the ground, careful not to wake Scyther next to him. He quickly took a glance over at Whitney. She was asleep, and her two Pokemon were cuddled up next to her, sleeping soundly as well. Bugsy smiled at this cute sight before turning around and walking deeper the forest towards an unknown location.

In the attempt to get his mind off of the bug Pokemon that might or might not be attacking Goldenrod City, Bugsy's thoughts had wandered to the events of the day, including all the gym battles he had lost, and all the feelings that had come with it.

Eventually, Bugsy's wondering had led him to a small cliff overlooking a large part of the forest. A lone tree stood on the edge of it as a beacon above all the others. After he walked over to it, Bugsy slid down the bark of it and sat on the cool grass. He lifted his head to the stars and felt the spring night air on his skin. He took a moment to soak in all the nature around him before getting his mind back on track.

 _What do I do? What can I do to stop losing?_ Bugsy asked himself in his thoughts. _If I really do need to change types, then what type should I change to? Are there any of them out there that have the same natural beauty like bug types do? Should I even change types in the first place?_

Bugsy's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps crunching the grass behind him. The owner of these noises walked up to the tree where Bugsy was, and sat down right next to him, her body molding into his, leaving no space inbetween them. They were so close, both metaphorically and physically, that there was no reason for boundaries to separate them.

"Sorry, I probably woke you up, didn't I?" Bugsy apologized. "I couldn't sleep, so I decided to come out here. Too many things on my mind."

At this point, it had occurred to Bugsy that he had never asked for her opinion on his thoughts. It only made sense to ask her too.

"What do you think, Scythe?" Bugsy asked the bug beside him. "Do you think I need to change type? Or is there some other way I can get better-some other way that I could stop losing? You know there's no one else's opinion I value more than yours."

Some people may have thought that asking a bug type whether or not he should give up on bug types would have been stupid, seeing as her answer would clearly be biased. Bugsy still thought he should ask. It would only be fair.

However, Scyther didn't reply. She just continued to look up at the stars, her gaze unwavering. Then, right when Bugsy was sure she wasn't going to answer she turned over to her trainer and looked straight into his eyes with her sparkling blue ones.

" _Scyther Scy-ther"_ she finally spoke up. While Bugsy couldn't understand what she said in its entirety, he knew the point she was trying to get across by the way she said it and the way she was staring at him.

With a sigh, Bugsy replied. "Yeah, I guess you're right. This is my choice, and my choice alone. No one else can make it for me."

With that out of the way, and since he was still not tired, Bugsy sat there with Scyther, just looking up at the stars together in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, though. They both were just enjoying the night sky together, in a way only trainer and Pokemon could.

A loud and sudden feminine scream startled both Bugsy and Scyther out of their trances and even made the former jump a little bit. The two of them turned in the direction of the awful cry that was just let out. It wasn't towards camp, so it couldn't have been Whitney's-not that it even sounded like her anyway. It had to be someone else entirely.

The scream came again, and it definitely belonged to a human, not a forest Pokemon. Bugsy turned back to Scyther, who was already looking at him again, this time with eyes of determination. They both nodded without saying a word, and jumped up to their feet to run after the scream they heard.

Whoever it was, they were not happy, and Bugsy was going to find out why.

* * *

 **I know not too much action happened this chapter, as it was mostly character interaction and development. There will be some in the next chapter though.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


	6. Forest of Intrigue-Part 2

**Hey ya'll. Here's another chapter for you guys that actually read this. I really am trying to make these more frequent, I promise. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Bugsy sped through the forest, dodging trees and shrubbery as he went, Scyther flying close behind him. Another scream ran out, and this one was closer and louder. This only caused Bugsy to run faster. He didn't know who this person was, or why she was crying out, but Bugsy needed to find out.

Some outlying branches caught him off guard as he ran, and they scraped or smacked against his jacket. He ignored the slight pain and continued to sprint forward, refusing to slow down.

Not too much later, Bugsy spotted something on the ground. As he got closer, he noticed it wasn't some _thing_ , but some _one_. It was hard to tell in the dark night, but the moonlight lit up the forest just enough for Bugsy to analyze the person.

It was clearly a girl by her small figure and long, black hair. She was slumped over, her face buried into the ground. Even though her mouth was muffled, Bugsy could hear that she was gasping and sniffling, clearly crying.

Assuming she was the one that had been screaming, Bugsy ran up to the girl and knelt down beside her.

Bugsy laid his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "Hey, are you alright? What's wrong?" he asked in between his own breaths as Scyther flew in behind him and landed on the ground.

In reaction to his voice, the girl took her head off the ground and looked at the boy next to her. The best word that Bugsy could use to describe her face would be 'distressed.' Her wide, green eyes were all red and puffy as tears poured down her face, her mouth slightly agape. Now that Bugsy was up close, he could tell that this girl was young, definitely younger than he; she couldn't be older than ten.

The girl stared at Bugsy, the worried expression not leaving her face. She didn't say anything, which prompted Bugsy to speak up again.

"We're here to help," he said in a soft voice. "What's the matter? What happened?"

"He…" the girl started, almost inaudibly quiet. "He took him…"

"He took him?" Bugsy repeated.

"My riolu…that man, he…he…" she stopped and started to sniffle as more tears started to come down. She covered her face with her hands and let out another loud cry. Even through all of her rambling, Bugsy was pretty sure what the girl was trying to say. Still, there were a lot of questions Bugsy had. Who was this girl? Why had someone taken her Pokemon? How would someone do that? Why was she alone out here in the middle of night? Did she have any other Pokemon?

But eventually, Bugsy's mind focused, and he asked the question that mattered the most.

"Tell me where he went." he said, wondering if he could still catch up to the thief. The girl took one of her hands off her face to weakly point in the direction opposite the one that Bugsy and Scyther had ran from. "He…he took my Pokemon that way…"

This was all Bugsy needed to know. He got up from the ground.

"Alright, stay here. We'll get your Pokemon back," Bugsy reassured her.

"Bu-but…he's so strong," the girl spoke and looked up. "I didn't even stand a chance…" she trailed off, her eyes quickly falling back to the ground as fast as they had risen.

"Well, we at least have to try, right Scythe?" Bugsy said and looked over to his Pokemon.

" _Scyther!"_ she said back in affirmation.

"Okay, then let's go!" he said before running off in the direction the thief had gone. Scyther jumped back into the air and flew off to follow her trainer.

The girl struggled to sit up straight. When she did, she watched the two figures run through the trees.

All she could do now is hope. Hope and pray.

Bugsy kept running. He had to catch up with this man. It was possible it wasn't too late to stop him. His fatigue, however, was catching up to him. His legs started to feel sore and his lungs hurt. Still, he persevered, knowing full well that if he didn't catch up to the thief, that girl would never see her Pokemon again.

It was hard to see in the dark, and a few times Bugsy mistook trees for the kidnapper. And when he finally did catch up to the thief, he almost mistook him for a tree because he was tall, skinny, and covered from head to toe in black clothes. But the large, wiggling, brown sack slung over his shoulder was the giveaway to Bugsy.

"Hey, you!" Bugsy shouted to get his attention. The man stopped his walking and turned his head back to look at the person who just hailed him. Even in the dark and from a distance, Bugsy could tell that the man's face was stone cold, not showing any emotion.

Bugsy skidded to a halt a little ways from the man, with Scyther landing next to him.

"Why'd you steal that girl's Pokemon? Give it back!" Bugsy shouted at the guy. Despite this, he was still unfazed, looking like he really couldn't care less.

"If you really think that I'd give this Pokemon back after all the trouble I went through to get it," the man spoke in his gruff baritone voice before turning around to face the bug catcher, "then I'm sorry to disappoint you."

Once he turned around, Bugsy's eyes focused on the man's shirt. A large, red 'R' shown out against the black of the rest of his suit and also the night. It was at this point that Bugsy realized who this man was. He was from the infamous gang known as Team Rocket.

"As for why," the Team Rocket grunt continued, "I think that speaks for itself. Do you know how popular Riolu are these days?" he asked rhetorically and gave the bag a little shake with a grin. The Pokemon inside gave a little grunt, but the man ignored it. "People will pay a fortune for one of these."

The man reoriented himself on Bugsy as his eyes narrowed, "Now scram, kid," he said, his voice still lackluster. "Don't you have some bugs to catch?"

Bugsy swallowed hard to wet his dry throat. To say that Bugsy was not afraid of this man at all was untrue. He knew that whoever would steal a Pokemon would be serious, but it just now hit him how real this was. Seeing an actually member of Team Rocket in front of him was intimidating.

Bugsy had never fought someone from Team Rocket, and he had always hoped he would never have to. But now, it seemed unavoidable. Pushing his fear to the back of his mind, Bugsy tried his best to sound braver than he really was.

"I won't let you get away with this," he said quietly between his teeth.

The Team Rocket grunt continued to stare Bugsy down. "Why do you care so much, kid?" he asked with a shrug. "It's not like it's yours. Just walk away, alright? It will be easier on both of us."

"But it is _someone's_ Pokemon," Bugsy spoke up, this time a little louder, "and that's enough reason to get it back. As long as Scythe and I can still fight…" Bugsy paused and took a deep breath before repeating himself, "We won't let you get away with this."

Scyther stepped forward in front of Bugsy and raised her scythes, outstretched her wings, and looked down across the ground toward the man, getting ready to battle.

"How heroic," he said sarcastically as he took one of the two Pokeballs off his belt with the hand not carrying the bag. "I really didn't want to fight anyone else today, but if you're dead set against me taking this Pokemon…" the man stopped as he tossed the Pokeball casually onto the ground. It hit with a 'clink' and then opened. After a flash of light, a large, brown furred rat came out. It barred it's one, large tooth, and gripped his claws together, letting out an angry cry.

" _Rrr-aticate!"_

"...Then let's see how good you are, kid."

Bugsy tried his best to focus on the battle. Not who he was fighting, or why he was fighting, those would only distract him. He had to put everything he had into winning. This was one battle that he could not afford to lose.

Normally, Bugsy would let the other person go first out of courtesy, but not this time. This time he couldn't risk doing so.

"Scyther, use Quick Attack!"

With quick reflexes, Scyther jumped up and darted towards the raticate on the other end of the battlefield.

"Sucker Punch," the man called, still in his dull voice. The raticate waited until Scyther was really close until he dived towards her.

"Scyther, dodge!"

Scyther did as she was told and swerved slightly to the right of the raticate right as he went for the punch, which ended up barely touching her. Now behind the raticate, Scyther took one of her arms and smacked the raticate in the head with the back of her scythe. This disoriented him and caused the rat to stumble forward.

"Now, Fury Cutter!" Bugsy called a follow up attack.

Scyther dropped down to the ground in preparation. The raticate only had time to turn around before Scyther was on him. She slashed him right on the face, which caused a cry of pain from him. Not letting up, Scyther slashed again, and again. Each time she attacked, the raticate would wince and take a step back.

"Raticate, use Hyper Fang."

For a few more attacks, Raticate didn't do anything, and Scyther kept hitting him. After one attack though, he saw his opening. Ignoring the pain, and before Scyther could attack again, he took his one, large tooth and dug it right into the back of Scyther's arm.

Caught off guard by this attack, Scyther let out a grunt of pain. She tried to shake him off, but that only ended up letting his tooth grind in deeper, which hurt even more.

"Get him off of you, Scythe!" said her trainer. Scyther tried to orient her other arm to slash the the raticate off her, but the position he put her in wouldn't allow a full on strike, so her attack came off weak and didn't do too much to deter the rodent.

Gritting her teeth in pain, Scyther took a second to think. She needed to use her head to get out of this one.

And that's exactly what she did.

Taking in a deep breath, Scyther tilted her head back before slamming it into raticate. This sudden jerk made him lose grip and let go of Scyther.

"Alright! Follow it up with a Quick Attack!" Bugsy called out. Scyther took a step back before ramming the dazed raticate with both her arms, pushing through him, knocking him off balance, and forcing him to the ground.  
"Now, U-Turn!"

Taking advantage of her opponent's prone state, Scyther jumped up and delivered a powerful kick directly onto his side. The raticate let out a howl as Scyther used the backwards force of the kick to push herself backwards and land a little in front of Bugsy.

The raticate didn't move after this except for a little twitch of his arm. Knowing that he couldn't fight anymore, the Team Rocket grunt returned him to his ball and swapped it out for the other one on his belt.

"Nice job, Scythe," Bugsy congratulated his Pokemon. " _That wasn't hard,_ " he thought.

"Not bad, kid," The man said. Bugsy thought that he could almost see a small amount of emotion in his face when he said that. It immediately went away, however, as he rapidly went back to his lifeless resting face. "But I'm not done yet."

After he blandly tossed the Pokeball onto the battlefield, it broke open revealing a small yellow Pokemon. It waved its heart-tipped tail before getting on all fours and letting out a cry.

"Pi-ka-chu!"

"A pikachu, huh?" Bugsy mused to himself. Scyther instinctively took a few steps back and got next to Bugsy to hear what he would say to her. Quite often they would discuss strategy during gym battles when their opponent sent out a new Pokemon. Even though this wasn't a gym battle, it was arguably even more important.

"We've fought quite a few Pikachu before," Bugsy whispered, loud enough for Scyther to hear him."This one won't be any different. They're fast, but you need to be faster and dodge their electric attacks. One good volley of Fury Cutters should take it out. We both need to look for an opportunity to do that. If you see an opening before I do, go ahead and take it; you don't need my order for that one."

Bugsy took a deep breath before turning his head off of the pikachu and to Scyther, asking "Are you ready?"

" _Scythe_ ," she replied with a nod.

"I don't got all day, kid," the man on the other side said. "Or all night, either," he added with a glace up to the moon.

Scyther stepped in front of her trainer and got ready to battle once more.

"Finally done with your pep talk?" the man scoffed. "Alright, Pikachu, use Quick Attack."

The pikachu lowered her body close to the ground before darting towards the other side of the battlefield.

"Use Quick Attack, too!" Bugsy countered. Scyther took no time in extending her wings and matching the pikachu's speed. The two Pokemon slammed into each other a little ways from the center of the field. The force from each attack caused the other to recoil back a bit.

"Thunderbolt!"

Obeying her trainer, Pikachu took another step back and started to charge up the electricity inside of her. Before Bugsy could say anything, she released the bolt towards the bug type. Scyther knew it was coming and flew to the right. It came much faster than she expected, however, and so it still clipped her left wing. Scyther let out a grunt and stumbled to the ground.

The Thunderbolt traveled past Bugsy and vaporized a small section of a poor tree on the outskirts of the field. Even Bugsy was surprised by that attack. It was much faster and, judging by the black mark on the tree, a lot stronger than he expected. Already it was clear that this pikachu was much stronger the raticate.

While Bugsy was distracted by the Thunderbolt and Scyther was now on the ground recovering from her minor hit, the Team Rocket grunt took advantage.

"Quick Attack," he called out. Bugsy wasn't even able to fully turn around before Scyther was hit by the pikachu right in the gut. The bug staggered back, but quickly recovered and got ready for her next move.

Bugsy mentally scolded himself for getting so distracted. He needed to focus, especially now that this pikachu revealed herself as an actual threat.

"Scyther, use Aerial Ace!" Bugsy called out, wanting into gain momentum back in their favor. Ignoring the pain in her wing, Scyther flew away from the pikachu to get a flying start before turning around and diving towards the mouse.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt," the man said in his same, dull tone. The electric type tucked in her arms and prepared to let loose a string of electricity.

It was right at this time that both Bugsy and Scyther saw their chance.

But Scyther was just a tad bit quicker than him at taking it.

Before Bugsy could say anything, Scyther dove to the ground, landed, and bashed the Pikachu with the back of one of her blades, all before the Thunderbolt went off. This unexpected attack caused Pikachu to lose focus and her attack fizzled out. After this, Scyther slashed her across the snout, and then again on her stomach, and once more on the top of her head. Just like the raticate before her, the Pikachu could only wince as each attack hit her, unable to break out of the string of attacks.

" _That's it, Scythe,_ " Bugsy thought to himself. " _Just like that. Keep it up."_

The Team Rocket grunt's face was still unreadable. Bugsy was unsure if he didn't care that his Pokemon was getting slashed up, or if he had some counter to it.

Finally, after quite a few more attacks by Scyther, Bugsy could tell the pikachu was already weak. One last attack would finish her off. He didn't want to risk Pikachu breaking out of the flurry like Raticate had, so he was going to end it with one last attack.

"Alright, Scyther, fly up and finish this with U-Turn!"

Releasing her metaphoric grip on Pikachu, Scyther pushed off the ground with her legs and flew straight up into the sky, preparing to dive down on the electric mouse like she had with the raticate.

The thought that Pikachu could counterattack while Scyther was flying had come up in Bugsy's mind, but he knew that any one attack the electric type could use, Scyther would be able to withstand it.

At least, that's what he assumed.

Although Bugsy couldn't see him, the grunt lifted up his head. "Wrong move, kid," he said. "Pikachu, Thunder."

"Wha-? T-thunder?!" Bugsy stammered as he heard this. How could it possibly be strong enough to know Thunder? There was no way a Team Rocket grunt would have a Pokemon that strong, right?

"Quick, Scythe, get out of the sky!" Bugsy yelled to try and correct his mistake. But it was no use; Pikachu was already charging up the attack. Before Scyther could even start to get back to the ground, a gigantic bolt from the sky came down and directly hit her.

A loud yell of pain escaped her body as all of the electricity from the attack hit her body at once.

"No! Scyther!" Bugsy shouted, but even his voice was lost to the loud cracking of the Thunder.

After a few seconds of loud thunder and bright flashes, the attack stopped and the booming sound had dissipated. Scyther, no longer able to fly, fell straight to the ground, landing on the grassy dirt with a soft thud.

The clearing was silent after this, a stark contrast to what it was moments prior. No one moved for a few seconds, everyone processing the recent turn of events.

"S-scyther!" Bugsy's yell eventually broke the silence. He ran across the battlefield to where the bug type now laid on the ground. He got on the ground beside his Pokemon and examined her.

Scyther was not in good shape. She had gotten directly hit by a Thunder attack from a strong electric type. It would be a wonder if she was still conscious after that, let alone be able to battle. Bugsy shook her arm a bit to see if she was even still awake.

"Scyther, are you alright?" he asked, his voice and eyes already wavering.

It took a bit, but Scyther eventually opened her own eyes. Her once vibrant and glittering blue irises were now clouded and dull. With painstaking sluggishness, Scyther turned her head towards her trainer.

" _Scy…_ " she said weakly.

"Scyther…no…" Bugsy's reply was almost as feeble.

"Well, it's been fun, kid, but it's time for me to get going," the grunt said before turning around and continuing his walk into the forest. His Pikachu was just barely able to tear herself off the ground and follow him, as beat up as she was.

Bugsy could do nothing but watch as the man took the wiggling brown sack on his back and walked away from him towards the endless sea of trees, his Pikachu continuing alongside him. He wanted to do something, but what? He could tell the Pikachu was weak, by how she stumbled along side her trainer. They were so close, but without a Pokemon to battle, there was no way he could just take the Riolu back by himself. But at the same time he couldn't just let the grunt take the Pokemon either.

Never before in his life had Bugsy felt so helpless.

" _Scy…_ " a grunt came from beside Bugsy. Turning, the boy saw Scyther struggling to prop herself up on her arms. Her teeth were clenched, her body was shaking, and her breathing was ragged, but still she persevered and pushed herself up.

Her eyes were drilling straight ahead at the grunt as he walked away. They were still clouded and dim, but behind that, Bugsy could see something more. Her eyes had a glint of something else. Something like…

Determination.

Using all of her remaining energy, Scyther did her best to pull her knees in and push herself up.

"Scythe, are you…" Bugsy stopped once he put together what she was trying to do. Getting up himself, he lifted under her arms and helped her to her feet, careful not to hurt his Pokemon anymore than she already was.

Once off the ground, Scyther weakly crossed her blades in front of her and let out an even weaker " _Scy…ther…"_

Upon hearing this, the Team Rocket grunt stopped his walk and twisted his head around, his face still a blank stare.

"Well, well, look who's still kicking," he said. After turning around and retracing a few of his steps, his Pikachu slowly walked in front of him and got back down on her feet, preparing to battle once more. She slipped the first time, but got back up afterwards. It was clear that after the attacks she had sustained, she was nearing the breaking point. One last attack would finish her off.

The only problem was that Scyther's moves all relied on speed, and she had none of that now. And there was no way she would be able to dodge any attack that came at her either. Scyther's options were very limited and both she and her trainer knew that. Bugsy took a few step away from his Pokemon and got ready to battle again.

"There's no way we could charge them," Bugsy thought outloud to himself, "but Scythe can't just sit here and wait for an attack that she can't dodge…"

Bugsy didn't know what to do at this point. He was trying to rack his brain for any kind of strategy he hadn't thought of yet. Some point of his research that he had perhaps forgotten. Surly he had overlooked something, right?

"Your Pokemon has spirit, I'll give her that," The man called. "Not many Pokemon could stand up after an attack like that. But I'm getting tired of this, so let's end it here, huh?"

The man looked directly at Bugys before calling out his order.  
"Pikachu, Volt Tackle."

No way!" Bugsy shouted, his thoughts of strategy now out of mind. Not only did it know Thunder, but also Volt tackle? Bugsy couldn't believe this. How strong was this Pikachu?

Pikachu dutifully obeyed and started to charge up her body before bolting straight for Scyther.

"Scyther, quick, dodge it!" Bugsy tried desperately to stop it, but it was no use. Scyther was much too slow now to do any kind of quick maneuvering. Scyther vainly attempted to put her arms up to block it right as the Pikachu slammed into the bug.

A blinding light ruptured out of the attack as the two Pokemon collided. It was so bright, that it forced Bugsy to shield his eyes and look away. He couldn't see and could barely hear himself think over the dominating sound of electricity. All he could do was wait until the attack ended and see the results.

And finally, after a few seconds, it was over, just like the attack before it. The light faded, the sound disappeared, and the forest was once again back to its dark, quiet state.

As soon as the attack had ended, Bugsy whipped his head around to see what had transpired, fearing the worst.

But what he saw completely contradicted that.

Standing up, albeit quite slouched over, was Scyther. A little ways from her was Pikachu, who was on all fours. They were both still standing.

For a second, that is.

Pikachu, no longer able to sustain her own weight, collapsed and crashed into the ground.

It took Bugsy all but a few seconds to comprehend what had just happened. Pikachu had just fainted, while Scyther was still standing. The recoil from Pikachu's attack must have knocked herself out and Scyther was able to withstand the damage. Bugsy had no idea how Scyther had taken an attack like that and could still stand. Even he was baffled.

But that sense of confusion soon gave way to an overwhelming sense of joy.

"We…we won…" Bugsy said only slightly louder than a whisper, hardly believing it. Then, a little louder, he said "We did it. Scyther, we did it!" he proclaimed the last statement as he ran over to his Pokemon.

Scyther merely looked over to her trainer and gave him the best smile she could muster from all of her remaining strength. Bugsy pulled Scyther into a hug, but not a hard one, knowing how weak she already was.

"Scyther, we actually did it! We actually beat him!"

" _Scy…_ " Scyther let out an affirming grunt.

It wasn't the kind of victory Bugsy had expected, but it was a victory nonetheless.

Knowing that he had been beaten, the Team Rocket grunt took off the Pokeball from his ball and returned the Pikachu from the battlefield.

"To not only be able to take a Thunder, but also a Volt Tackle and still be standing…That's some Scyther you've got there, kid," he commented. "You've clearly trained her well if she's not only able to take those attacks, but also willing to for her trainer."

Then, the man did something Bugsy never expected him to do.

He smiled.

"Not bad, kid, not bad."

The smile quickly went away. The man took a look behind him before continuing.

"Something tells me that I'm not going to be able to outrun a Scyther that can take two strong electric type attacks even if I did decide to run," he said with a bit of humor.

He turned back around and looked back at Bugsy.

"So you know what? If it means that much to you, here, he's yours. Wasn't worth the trouble anyway."

And with that, the grunt tossed the brown sack on his shoulders onto the ground, which was met with a grunt from inside.

Bugsy didn't really know what to do at this point. He was still recovering from the fact that they had just won a battle he was sure they were going to lose, and now the man was not only complimenting him, but also giving the Pokemon back. However, before he even could react, the Team Rocket member spoke up again.

"Well, it's been fun, kid, but it's time for me to get going," he repeated his line from earlier, but this time in a much lighter tone. After sticking his hands in his pockets he walked back the way he had started to go earlier, but this time continued through the trees on the other side of the battlefield.

However, when he was just about out of sight in the dark night, he stopped and called back.  
"Hey, kid?"

Bugsy didn't reply, not really sure what to say. When he didn't respond, the grunt went on.

"Take care of that Scyther, alright? You mean a lot to her…I can tell."

Finally, after that, the man left through the darkness of the forest, leaving Scyther and Bugsy alone at last.

After a few seconds of silence, Bugsy let go of his Pokemon.

"Are you feeling alright, Scythe?" he asked. When she didn't answer him, he started to get concerned. "Scyther?" he asked again.

" _Scy…_ " she got out before her legs gave out and she started to fall over backwards. Thinking quickly, Bugsy gasped and reached out and grabbed hold of his Pokemon again before she could fall too far, catching her under her arms.

Her breathing had slowed and her eyes were closed.

" _Completely out,"_ Bugsy observed. _"She must have only stayed up to bluff her strength in order to scare the Team Rocket grunt away."_

"Good job, Scythe. You deserve a long rest _."_

Bugsy removed Scyther's Pokeball off his belt with a smile and returned the bug to it.

After putting the ball back on his belt, Bugsy simply stood for a few seconds, still trying to recover from everything that had just happened.

"You mean a lot to her…" Bugsy repeated the man's last line to himself.

A wiggle and a muffled grunt from the bag reminded Bugsy why he even fought the battle in the first place.

The bug catcher approached the bag and knelt down to untie the knot at the top. After a few loops and some pulls, Bugsy took the string off the bag and opened the top of it.

Almost immediately, a small, blue Pokemon's head popped out of the bag and gasped for air. His eyes opened revealing crimson irises that he stared up at Bugsy with.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," Bugsy reassured. Still, the Pokemon gazed at him, looking more confused than anything. Granted, if Bugsy was in this situation, he probably would be a bit perplexed as well.

Before he could start to explain, an exuberant shout emanated from behind Bugsy. He looked behind him to find the girl from earlier. "Ri-riolu!" she shouted and ran up to her Pokemon. Said Pokemon beat her to it, and jumped out of the bag and straight into her arms.

"Oh, Riolu, I thought I might never see you again."

" _-olu!_ " the Pokemon cried back, just as happy as his trainer.

"Th-thank you so much for getting him back," the girl turned her attention to Bugsy.

"Oh, uh, don't mention it," Bugsy said, not really sure how to respond to the gratitude. "But if you want to thank someone, you should probably thank Scyther. She's the one who did all the work."

"Well, you are Scyther's trainer, so you should still get some of the credit, right?" the girl said as she walked up to him, Riolu still in her arms.

"I…guess so?"

"I'm Courtney, by the way," the girl continued past Bugsy's hesitancy.

"I'm Bugsy. Nice to meet you, even if it was under the best circumstances."

"Same here," Courtney replied with a smile, her face now very lively. "I really can't thank you enough, Bugsy, for helping us out. If only there was some way I could repay you…"

"Oh, no, it's alright, you don't have to. I was just doing what was right. I don't think I'm very special for wanting to stop a member of Team Rocket," Bugsy said, slightly embarrassed from the praise.

"So that was a member of Team Rocket, huh?" Courtney affirmed what Bugsy had said. "I mean, I had heard the stories…but…I'd never thought I'd actually run into one..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Bugsy agreed, he himself having thought that before the battle. His eyes went away from the girl and towards the forest where the man had left from. "Still…you don't hear about singular grunts out and about to steal Pokemon. You always see them in groups in the news, right?"

Courtney thought about it for a second. "Yeah, I guess so," she confirmed

"Strange…" Bugsy gave the thought only another second before laying it aside and returning his attention and gaze to Courtney. "So, what were you doing in the middle of the forest late at night," Bugsy asked a question that he had when he first found Courtney.

"I was just traveling through on my way to Azalea," she answered.

"Azalea, why were you going there?"

"Well, I just turned ten two months ago," Courtney explained, proving Bugsy's guess about her age right, "so I haven't been a trainer for that long. I tried to beat the Goldenrod gym leader, but she was way too strong, even when I had type advantage. I heard that the gym leader in Azlea was pretty easy to beat, so I decided to head over there. We camped out tonight, but then that man appeared and…well, I'm just glad you showed up when you did."

"Yeah, I am too," Bugsy agreed, trying his hardest to ignore the dagger she had just stabbed through his heart. "But I have some bad news," he continued. "The gym in Azalea is closed."

"Closed? Why?" Courtney asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"Some kind of Pokemon destroyed the Pokecenter, and until it's rebuilt, the gym is forced to be closed."

A face of dread washed over the girl as she heard his words.

"That's…terrible. Why would any Pokemon do that?"

"I don't know, but that's why I'm out here. I'm trying to figure it out."

"Okay…well, thanks for the heads-up."

A large yawn escaped Courtney's mouth, which in turn prompted Bugsy to do the same.

"With all that just happened, I'd forgotten I was supposed to be sleeping," Courtney said comically, clearly trying to keep positive.

"Same here," Bugsy said back. "My camp isn't too far from here if you want to come with. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to camp out alone after what just happened."

Despite his considerate offer, Courtney shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I don't think that guy will come back since you beat him. I'll be fine on my own now."

"Alright, just take care of yourself. Strange things have been happening lately."

"Don't worry, I will," Courtney said as she turned around to go back to her camp. "Thanks again, Bugsy!"

After this, Courtney started to run back into the forest from the direction she had come from, leaving Bugsy alone under the night sky.

Thinking that he, too, should get back to camp, Bugsy retraced his path that he had taken, but this time going slowly, seeing as there was now no reason to run. He decided to enjoy the night time nature that he wasn't able to as he went through it before: hearing Hoot-hoot in the distance calling back at one another, seeing a family of spinarak climbing up the bark of a tree, as well as basking in the moonlight and night time air himself.

Taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells of the dark forest set Bugsy's mind at ease from all that had just happened and all that might happen in the future.

In what seemed like no time at all, Bugsy had made his way back to the tree he had sat under with Scyther, and from there he made his way back to the clearing where his camp was.

Whitney was still sound asleep with her two Pokemon beside her, completely oblivious to everything that had just transpired. Bugsy knew he would have to tell her about his experience in the morning. He could almost picture her reaction now.

For the present, however, he felt very drained. Bugsy tried to forget everything that had just happened as he layed back down on the ground, next to the now long quenched fire, and tried to get some sleep. And this time, it was granted to him.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Reviews are always appreciated, especially about the fight scenes, as I find those the hardest to write.**


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